Old Spanish Trail
I spent four days in Barstow attending the Old Spanish Trail Association Conference. I enjoyed myself and hope next year’s will be as good. I will be attending again.
The Vanyume Indians are alive and well. What an opportunity to meet a representative of these people who were previously thought to have disappeared from the high Mojave Desert!
The Vanyume were close relatives, or a branch of the Serrano people. The Vanyume seemed to have better relations with the Mohave than did their cousins the Serrano, who kept close ties to the Cahuilla, who the Mohave did not care for because they were allies with the Halchidoma, neighbors and enemies living to the south of the Mohave- This may not be correct but it is my impression of what was happening. The Vanyume/Serrano people seemed to be a diplomatic people in surviving somewhat between these two cultures.
I was also fortunate to meet the spokesman for the Chemehuevi people. The Chemehuevi Indians are from what I understand, are an offshoot of the Southern Paiute. They also seem to have been a diplomatic people that could maintain cooperative relations with the Mohave. Although, certainly there were some disputes and ultimately a war between the two groups, the Mohave/Chemhuevi relationship seemed to be beneficial to the survival of both.
The Mohave according to one source, half-jokingly refered to the Chemehuevi as “Small Bows.” The small, juniper wood, sinew-backed bows of the Chemhuevi however were really nothing to joke about though. In the hands of a Chemehuvi warrior they could be exceptionally deadly. Travelers, freighters, mail carriers, and the U.S. military would find this out in the 1860s.
Anyway, the Old Spanish Trail, which by the way, was not old, Spanish, or just one trail, is just as fascinating to me in person as it is on maps. Studying the brief evolution of the trail system from mule trail to wagon road and the Mormon road/Salt Lake trail will be one of the more interesting of my projects to post on the MojaveDesert.NET in the coming months.
I’m cutting this post short. I’m dehydrated to a crisp, tired and sunburnt. I just wanted to post the above before it runs out my other ear. Also I wanted to say I had a great time and thank the Mojave River Valley Museum for hosting the conference/symposium. Great job!
http://digital-desert.com/old-spanish-trail/