Month: December 2025

INDIVIDUAL-TO-CORRIDOR LINK CHART

Volume XXI: History of California, v4: 1840-1845 (1886)

Corridors tracked:
MR = Mojave River route
OST = Old Spanish Trail
CP = Cajon Pass
AV = Antelope Valley
OV = Owens Valley and Great Basin linkage
SC = Salt Creek / Amargosa
CR = Colorado River approach

NAME                         MR   OST   CP   AV   OV   SC   CR
----------------------------------------------------------------
Pablo Vicente de Sola        .    .     .    .    .    .    .
Luis Antonio Arguello        .    .     .    .    .    .    .
Jose Maria Echeandia         x    x     x    .    .    .    .
Jose Figueroa                x    x     x    .    .    .    .
Nicolas Gutierrez            .    .     x    .    .    .    .
Juan Bautista Alvarado       x    x     x    x    .    .    .
Carlos Antonio Carrillo      .    x     x    .    .    .    .
Manuel Micheltorena          x    x     x    x    .    .    .

Pio Pico                     x    x     x    x    .    .    .
Andres Pico                  x    x     x    x    .    x    x
Jose Castro                  x    x     x    .    .    .    .
Mariano G. Vallejo           x    .     x    .    .    .    .

Father Jose B. Sanchez       .    .     .    .    .    .    .
Father Narciso Duran         .    .     .    .    .    .    .

Native Leaders (coastal)     x    x     x    .    .    .    .
Native Leaders (inland)      x    x     x    x    x    x    x

Jedediah Smith               x    x     x    x    x    x    .
Peter Skene Ogden            .    .     .    .    x    x    .
Ewing Young                  x    x     x    x    .    .    x
Alfred Robinson              x    x     x    .    .    .    .
William A. Gale              .    x     x    .    .    .    .
Joseph Chapman               x    x     x    .    .    .    .

John C. Fremont              x    x     x    x    x    x    x
Kit Carson                   x    x     x    x    x    x    x

----------------------------------------------------------------
Legend:
x = meaningful effect on corridor development or use
. = negligible or indirect effect

Arizona to Lower Colorado Summary

The route from the Zuni country to the Lower Colorado crosses some of the driest and most varied ground in the Southwest. The upper plateaus begin with shallow streams, small fields, and volcanic mesas covered in lava detritus and scattered pueblo ruins. Water is scarce from the start and becomes the governing force of the entire passage. As the trail moves west, the high pines give way to broken ridges and deep dry ravines, with only small springs to support travel. Central Arizona holds scattered Tonto and Yampai camps, but long stretches show no settled life at all. Approaching the Colorado, the country grows more barren until the river finally emerges from canyon walls into scattered bottomlands where cottonwood, mesquite, and established Mojave and Quechan fields appear. The Lower Colorado marks the first reliable water since the eastern mountains and forms the natural gateway toward the California deserts.

References

Sitgreaves, L.
Report of an Expedition down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers (Washington: Robert Armstrong, Public Printer, 1853).
Primary details are drawn from field descriptions of terrain, vegetation, ruins, water sources, and tribal encounters throughout the narrative.