Nicole Marie Dominguez, President
Mule and buckboard transporting concrete monument for placement on ridge above Blue Diamond, as no motorized vehicles are allowed in the Red Rock National Recreation where the site is located.
Group following the buckboard, this part of the trail is used as a popular mountain bike trail.
Installing the monument.
Nevada represents the transition point for the Old Spanish Trail from the Rocky Mountains & the Great Basin terrain into the dry & desolate Mojave Desert, which was the most challenging segment of the OST!
Three critical needs were required by OST users: “Ease of travel, reliable water sources & feed for the animals.” Users of the OST through Nevada moved from the Virgin & Colorado Rivers because of the difficulty of travel to the Springs approximately 10 to 20 miles West of the Rivers.
The NV OSTA Chapter & Friends have marked the Trail between Bunkerville, NV to Tecopa, CA with 31 numbered concrete Markers standing 5.5 feet with “Old Spanish Trail 1829-1848” imprinted on two sides!. Much of the Trail is near old Highway 91 (Todays I-15) through the Las Vegas Valley to NV Hwy 160/159, that goes to Blue Diamond & Pahrump Valley, turning left on SR 372 & proceeding past Stump Springs near the CA state line, continuing over Emigrant Pass to Resting Springs & on to Tecopa, 162 miles to the Southwest)!
The distance across Southern Nevada is approximately of 150 miles! The Trail followed springs that provided water & feed – Warm Springs near Glendale, NV; the Las Vegas Springs; Cottonwood Springs (Blue Diamond); Mountain Springs Pass; Stump Springs near the CA state line & Resting Springs & Tecopa just inside CA).
The “Historic Old Spanish Trail Park,” erected by Clark County is located on South Cimarron at Tara Ave, one block south of West Sahara Avenue. Here you will find 13 large Kiosks containing historic photos, maps & historical accounts of significant western characters who impacted the Trail; John C. Fremont, Kit Carson, & others!
