Road Trip 2017 - Day 5

March 31


The best reference I have seen for the Armijo Route from Las Vegas to the Los Angeles area is  In Search of the Spanish Trail: Santa Fe to Los angles, 1829-1848, by C. Gregory Crampton and Steven K Madsen. In a series of vignettes these authors document the Northern Old Spanish Trail, but the final leg of all of the Spanish Trails from Barstow into Los Angeles is the same: The route originally  followed the Mojave River, but the closet approximation of that route is IS15.  The relatively easy ascent over the east side of the Cajon Pass was followed by the steep descent along the western side. After dropping down into the basin bordered by the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains the  route turns north, closely parallel, but slightly north of, the current San Bernardino Freeway (IS10). The route travels through El Monte, the San Gabriel Mission (which had been in existence for 50 years before Armijo got there), and ends in Los Angeles Plaza, now known as of Olvera St.

I did not follow this route, but instead went over the Tehachapi Pass and continued north to Oakland.   The Crampton and Madsen  book describes a number of locations along this last leg of the route where there are monuments of one kind or another to the Armijo Trail. Rancho Cucamonga was a large ranch and, importantly, the site of the first vineyard in California.   Certainly when I was growing up in Pasadena not too far from Cucamonga and very close to Mission San Gabriel I was not aware of the historical significance of either place. Maybe I'll combine a visit to some of those places with a California League baseball tour later in  the summer

But before I finish this blog I want to mention a few random thoughts:


Barstow has a historic spot on the Historic US Route 66,as well and trains and Spanish Trail routes.  There is a museum, maybe more than one in Barstow, commemorating all of these routes and I'd like to visit there some time.  I drove over much of that Cajon Pass route with Steve Shaffer 15 or so ago ago when we were going to some Cal League games..

After the Mexican War the trade routes from east to west went in more a a straight line.  One of those, the Beale Military Road may have gone to the Southern San Joaquin valley.  I know that later in his career Beale was station at Fort Tejon, so tracing that route would be interesting.

When I go to historic places, along the historic trails or elsewhere, I like to buy little souvenirs that I can use when I give tours at the Oakland Museum.  I have a piece of gold ore, a piece of quartz, a piece of obsidian, a vial of gold, a miniature Indian basket about half the size of a pea, a spoon showing the golden gate bridge, a little bag of "trade" beads, a little magnifying glass(another trade item), a round chunk of chocolate (the favorite staple of the DeAnza expedition), and few other things.  I also have a replica of a 1-real Spanish coin that has been cut into pieces: a half, a quarter and two eights  - one eight is 1-bit(of the coin). The quarter, therefor, is  2-bits, and the half is 4 bits.

Atocha reverse

Atocha obverse

When I was at the Aztec Ruins I a bought a replica 8 reales Spanish coin (a "piece of 8").  The design, production, use, loss, recovery, and current sales of these coins in a fascinating and complex story. You can learn more  here. Atocha-style coins were minted by Spain in the New World between the mid-15th and mid-18th centuries.  The designs on the coins relate the history of Spain during that period, with elements of the design reflecting the names of the Spanish monarchs, the various regions of the Spanish Empire (Austria, Old Burgundy, Flanders, Tyrol, Brabant, France, Granada, and more), the names of the assayer, the relationship of the church and the state, etc. Studying this coin is like a History of Spain and Europe.  The Atocha name is from a ship, the Nuestra Atocha de Senora, that sunk, along with several other ships, in a hurricane in 1622 on the way back to Spain with tons of treasure from the new world.  350 years later the wreckage was found by famed treasure-hunter Mel Fisher, who salvaged some 160,000 coins and numerous other artifacts. Now, jewelry based on the Atocha coin design, and maybe incorporating actual Atocha coins, is sold. If you are interested in any more of the many parts to this story click here.

And, finally, I'll mention a web site I found, "Discover Our Shared Heritage". This site has a interactive map with over 60 travel itineraries linking National Monuments in the USA (and a few elsewhere) based on various themes and in various parts of the country. Developed by the National Park Service it is a fantastic resource for exploring our country - its history, geography, culture, and people. It is going on my bucket list. Anyone like to come along?