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The Old SPANIShThe Old SPANIShThe Old SPANIShThe Old SPANIShThe
Old SPANIShTRAIl ASSOCIATIONTRAIl ASSOCIATIONTRAIl ASSOCIATIONTRAIl
ASSOCIATIONTRAIl ASSOCIATION
6Th ANNuAl NATIONAl CONfeReNCe6Th ANNuAl NATIONAl CONfeReNCe6Th
ANNuAl NATIONAl CONfeReNCe6Th ANNuAl NATIONAl CONfeReNCe6Th ANNuAl
NATIONAl CONfeReNCe
JuNe 5, 6, & 7, 1999 - lAS VegAS, NV
The people - the price- the program - the loca-tion- together
these things make a conference asuccess. Our conference was a
success.OSTA’s thanks go to:
THE PEOPLEHal Steiner and Liz Warren of Las Vegas fordoing all
the leg work setting up the conferencesite and program. Charles
& Judy Querfeld(OSTA President and wife) and Willard
Lewis(Conference Chair) for being responsible for theoverall
accomplishment of having the confer-ence.
Col. Harold Steiner Liz Warren
Our program lecturers: Dr. Joe Sanchez, CliffWalker, Liz Warren,
Kim Zukosky, GregSeymour, Col. Harold Steiner, Bill Helmer,Alice
Baldrica and Charles Querfeld.And, we want to thank Dr. Harry
Godshall andhis wife, Jo, for inviting us to his ranch, Rest-ing
Springs, on the Old Spanish Trail.
THE PRICE$45 for 2 days per OSTA member including twomeals, an
all day program and coach tour ofOST sites was a deal. The
Silverton was rea-
& Mon.) and the buffet was good—who amongus did not eat our
weight in crab legs andshrimp.
THE LOCATIONLas Vegas—one word: entertaining.
THE PROGRAM - SATURDAY, JUNE 5
Registration: (The coffee went as fast as itcould be provided.)
Richard and Marie Greenename-tagged our attendees and welcomed
thewalk-ins.
Judy Querfeld opened the OSTA store and wasbusy selling OST
thermal mugs, OST Logo Tsand denim shirts.
Willard Lewis had books for sale and sold allcopies of Dr. Joe
Sanchez’ book “Explorers,Traders, and Slavers- Forging The Old
SpanishTrail, 1678-1850.” Special thanks are due toPaul Spitzzeri
for giving OSTA the conferencesale proceeds for reprints of his
article “ToSeduce And Confuse: The Rowland-WorkmanExpedition of
1841” published in the SouthernCalifornia Quarterly.
President Charles Querfeld made the introduc-tions and welcomed
everybody. He turnedthings over to the Las Vegas coordinators,
LizWarren and Hal Steiner. They gave us survivaland comfort tactics
for Las Vegas and theforthcoming Conference activities. The
pro-gram was soon underway.
Dr. Joe Sanchez presented his keynote addr-ess, “The Old Spanish
Trail Mosaic: His-tory and Concept - Cultural Landscapes.”sonably
priced ($50-59 Fri. & Sat., $27-29 Sun.
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rating winter weather. Garces’ southern routewas forgotten.
Between 1777 and 1821 neither Spain norMexico developed the land
route from NewMexico to California. However, mountain menlike
Jedediah Smith were exploring the South-west and finding the way to
California. By1822, Mexico had won independence fromSpain,
California had become prosperous andMexico had a new attitude on
trade with for-eigners and access to California. In 1829Antonio
Armijo took the first trade caravanfrom New Mexico to California.
It was the startof trade and eventually migration. The routefrom
New Mexico to California eventuallybecame known as the Old Spanish
Trail.
Bill Helmer, OSTA’s Historian, followed Dr.Sanchez. Bill
presented a slide show accompa-nied by taped music (Bill on the
harmonica—afriend sang and played guitar—nice music).The slides
showed scenes from Bill’s 500-milehike on the OST. Bill talked
about the impacton the Timbisha Shoshones who were and arestill
impacted by the migration of westerncivilization. In fact, the
tribe is in negotiationswith the U.S. for the restoration of tribal
lands.
Cliff Walker then told us that “watering holes”naturally
dictated the direction of the trailthrough the desert. Thus, when
Indians ranaway from the California missions and mergedwith other
desert tribes and began to steallivestock, the Indians used the
“watering hole”
Dr. Joseph Sanchez
He sketched the history of the OST from itsorigins in Ute trails
and trade with the PuebloIndians before Onate settled New Mexico
in1598. After the Spanish entrada, trade withthe Utes continued and
the eastern portion ofthe OST was extended into the Utah Lake
areanear Provo. This illicit activity included a livelytrade of New
Mexican horses and mules for,among other items, Ute captives,
typicallyPaiute women and children. At that time offi-cial trade in
New Mexico was limited to that onthe Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.
In thiscontext it is important to remember that al-though Spain
expanded settlements to nearTucson around 1700, in Albuquerque in
1706,and in San Antonio in 1718, California was notsettled until
1769.
Dr. Sanchez reminded usthat the settlement ofCalifornia happened
muchlater than either NewMexico or Arizona. SanDiego was founded in
1769and missions and settle-ments as far north asMonterey followed
soonafter. Other settlements,notably San Francisco andLos Angeles,
came later in1776 and 1781, respectively.
The stage was now set for travel between NewMexico and
California, but it was slow to de-velop.
Explorations for a land route between Califor-nia and New Mexico
proceeded both ways. In1765, before California’s establishment,
JuanDe Rivera reached the vicinity of Moab, Utah.In 1776, Father
Garces toured, on foot, withonly an Indian guide, from San Gabriel
to theHopi village at Oraibi where he left a note forFray Silvestre
Velez de Escalante, theresident missionary. Shortly
thereafter,Escalante and Fray Francisco AtanasioDominguez set out
from New Mexico toMonterey, reached central Utah and thenreturned
to New Mexico in the face of deterio-
Bill Helmer Cliff Walker
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where water flowed on one side—wagon tracksin an area but no
mule tracks—Indian trails10-15” wide; mule trails are 22”- several
OSTsites.
After lunch, we heard about the efforts topreserve the Las Vegas
Springs—an OST campsite in the middle of Las Vegas.
Greg Seymour Kim Zukosky
Liz Warren, Greg Seymour (Archaeologist) andKim Zukosky (So. NV
Water Authority Pre-serve Manager) presented the history andcurrent
status of the Las Vegas Springs. Thereis evidence that the Springs
were used byIndians long before their discovery by moun-tain men
and Spanish traders. The Springswere the largest on the OST.
Mormons re-marked that the Springs “formed a small creekthat spread
out over the Las Vegas Valley toform meadows 2 ½ miles long and ½
milewide.” So what happened to this oasis? TheSprings have been
capped to supplement thewater supply of Las Vegas. The meadows
havedisappeared under roads and concrete. KimZukosky told us about
the efforts to preservethe immediate area around the
cappedsprings—the regrowth of native vegetation, thereturn of
animals and birds and the effort tomaintain the vestiges of
pioneers who used theSprings.
Liz, Greg and Kim primed us very well for theSunday visit to the
Springs.
Charles Querfeld, OSTA President, updated uson the OST National
Historic Trail FeasibilityStudy. The NPS now expects to issue
theirPreliminary Report for public comment at theend of 1999. We
are now waiting for its releasebefore filing comments.
Hal Steiner discussed “The OST Across TheMojave--Is It Worth
Preserving?” The invasionof off-road vehicles, housing developments
andhighways are all contributing to the disappear-ance of parts of
the Trail. It was agreed weneed to start marking the Trail and
erectingmarkers at significant sites.
Alice Baldrica, Nevada’s Deputy State HistoricPreservation
Officer (SHPO), showed us howwe can work with the SHPO of any state
to getapproval for protection of historic sites and
trails—as did the New Mexican traders whocrossed the desert. The
New Mexicans raidedsmall Indian villages and traded their
captivesin California and New Mexico. The 1853 BealeExpedition
noted that the slave trade stillexisted. Walker showed us slides of
a fault line
Register Sites should theNPS not designate theOST as a Historic
Trail.OSTA is grateful to Alicefor taking the time tocome to the
conferenceand for her enthusiasticpresentation.
The OSTA AnnualBusiness Meeting
Charles Querfeld was pleased to mention theprogress that OSTA
has made in a year—national membership has increased from lessthan
100 to its present level of 240 mailingaddresses—324 individuals
(Hats off to ourMembership Chairman Richard Greene). A
trail segments and perhaps find funding forthe erection of
markers. Alice’s comments gaveus a lot to think about when she said
thatperhaps we could get segments of the OST
designated as National
Alice Baldrica
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Southern California Chapter has formed underJohn Robinson’s
direction. Richard Greene,OSTA Treasurer presented the
Treasurer’sReport: The Treasury has grown from a FiscalYear 97-98
Balance of $1,166 to $8,085 in Fis-cal Year 98-99 ( Revenues
$13,375- Expenses$5290).
This ended the program for Saturday and wemoved to the
reception.There was plenty to eatand drink and we all had a chance
to mingle.The Silverton provided an excellent spread.
SUNDAY, JUNE 6
Our bus was comfortably packed even thoughthere was not a spare
seat when we left theSilverton. We were grateful for the AC -
thiswas June in Las Vegas. Hal Steiner and LizWarren took turns as
our guides.
We cruised the Strip. There is nothing like theStrip—where else
can you drive by replicas ofworld famous architecture collected in
onespot.
After arriving at the Big Springs Preserve(“the” Las Vegas
Springs), Kim Zukosky guidedus through this normally closed
facility. First,you become aware that this is an enclave
sur-rounded by housing and traffic. Yet, as youexplore, you become
oblivious to the outsideworld. You focus on nature—vegetation,
oldcottonwood trees, birds (especially the kestrels)and the gentle
flow of water. Then, there isMan: pumps, old buildings, water
collectiontanks, pathways, the now dry, spring caul-
drons. You are well aware of the heat and glareof the sun and
that you are immersed in his-tory.
We went on to the Mormon Fort. This buildingis the oldest in Las
Vegas and is the remnantof the fort built by Mormon settlers. There
is apioneer garden here to put you in touch withpast life. The site
was selected by the Mormonsbecause it was on a creek at the head of
themeadows for which Las Vegas is named. Thefort subsequently
became a ranch under O. D.Gass and Helen Stewart.
We proceeded to the outskirts of Las Vegas andbegan to get the
feel for the Trail. The typicaldesert terrain rolled with the usual
ups anddowns—some pretty steep slopes. Trail travel-ers went from
spring to spring: CottonwoodSprings in Blue Diamond once had good
waterholes and grass. Mountain Springs lay to thewest, uphill, in a
gap not visible from LasVegas.
Mountain Springs was our lunch stop. Localsknow the “Saloon”
just below MountainSprings summit (at 5502 feet the highest partof
the OST in NV). It is also a watering hole forbikers. I don’t know
which was more intimidat-ing: the bikers and their Harleys or our
busload of OST folks. Hal Steiner had box lunchesfor everybody, but
chance decided which flavorsandwich you would get. We had a
pleasantlunch under the trees. Some people checked
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took us down into the arroyo where in the sandin certain areas
you could dig down and getwater to surface. Reba Grandrud found a
wetspot and was able to scoop out some water. Itwas deja vu for
Bill because he had hikedthrough this arroyo some years ago and
wasseeing some of the same willows. StumpSprings was a lonely place
surrounded bybrush and if water were not so precious (nomatter how
brackish), I am sure past travelerslike Fremont (1844), Orville
Pratt (1848) andGwinn Harris Heap (1853) would have notmentioned
it. The view of snow-capped Mt.Charleston was breathtaking - even
Fremontremarked on it. Two miles beyond StumpSpring is
California.
The community of Charleston View, on theNevada-California
boundary, has cleared astretch of desert for an air strip. The OST
wasclearly visible as it crossed the airstrip. RoseAnn Tompkins
easily pointed out the trailwhen challenged by Hal Steiner.
Communityroads have crisscrossed the area and impactedthe
Trail.
Emigrant Pass: If you want to see one of thebest views and most
graphic evidence of theOST, THIS is the place. You can drive
andpark at the top of the Pass. From there you canlook over the
valleys to each side and clearlysee a long segment of trail. On top
of the passand on both sides of the slope is so much evi-dence of
wagon wheel rust on rocks that youknow you have had one of those
trail “experi-ences.” It was a great spot for lunch.
Stump Spring: Bill Helmer, OSTA Historian,
From Mountain Springs we retraced our wayback toward Las Vegas.
Liz Warren pointedout the agave plants growing on the slopes.Agave,
when cooked in pits, is edible and canbe stored . Liz pointed out
the limestonemiddens that remained at several cooking pits.
We went to Cottonwood Springs. The springsare on private
property. The communityaround it was an oasis. We stopped at the
BlueDiamond store for further refreshment andtook in the OST marker
there.
After passing the Wheeler Spring Preserve, wedrove to the
entrance of the Red Rock CanyonRecreation Area. Because buses are
not al-lowed in without special authorization, westopped and looked
at the view from the en-trance area and headed back to the
Silverton.
The bus tour was comfortable, the AC feltgood, the history was
great.
MONDAY, JUNE 7
It was already sunny and warm when ten carsleft the Silverton
under Hal Steiner’s leader-ship. We carpooled to minimize the
number ofcars in our caravan.
The store at Blue Diamond, Nevada
We stopped at a small community just beforeMountain Springs to
look at some wagontracks that the community had fought to pre-serve
and then went on to see more trail besidea road cut just before the
summit of MountainSprings. We drove down to the road toPahrump and
looked at another possible OSTtrace. Then, it was on to Stump
Spring.
an OST concrete pylon marker and a bronzethe springs close to
the restaurant. There is
plaque here.
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Resting Springs is a genuine oasis. Dr. HarryGodshall and his
wife, Jo, and their greatdanes welcomed us. Harry is an OSTA
memberand offered Conference attendees the opportu-nity to visit
Resting Springs. Harry gave us apamphlet on the history of Resting
Springs.About 1850, the Mormons gave RestingSprings its name when
their wagons regularlypassed and stopped here. Fremont called
itAgua de Hernandez after the Hernandez fam-ily (killed by
Indians). In the mid 1850s thearmy built a redoubt here to counter
Indianattacks. California horse thieves passedthrough here.
About 1877, Jonas Osborne built the firstpermanent building.
Other buildings were
erected: a stone hotel and three saloons amongothers. Water from
the spring was piped 2 or 3miles via gravity flow in 3” pipe to a
mill.Sections of rusty pipe can still be seen in thedesert. The
spring flows at about one milliongallons per day and is excellent
drinking wa-ter. It flows out of the ground from an
extendedsource.
Dr. Harry Godshall and wife Jo visit with OSTA President Charlie
Querfeld at Resting Springs
Resting Springs Ranch includes 520 acres andHarry inherited 1/20
of the ranch at the deathof his grandfather. He spent a few years
buyingout the other 19/20 interests. Each succeeding1/20 interest
became more difficult to buy. In1958, there were 18 cottonwoods
left of allthose planted by Jonas Osborne, but they haveall died.
The Godshall’s have planted all thegreenery on the ranch including
an incrediblegrove of palm trees. When they moved onto theproperty
in 1981 they could not walk from thehouse to the barns because of
heavy brush andwire fences; pastures had to be cleared,plumbed for
irrigation and fenced—theystarted from scratch and in their own
words—“It’s been worth every sweaty moment.” It isindeed
paradise.
Another concrete OST pylon is on the ranch.
Hike up Emigrant Pass
The OST mule trace lives on at Emigrant Pass
Resting Springs Ranch lies a few miles west.
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From Resting Springs we journeyed to ChinaRanch. It is reached
by a pleasant drivethrough a canyon with interesting remnants
ofpast mining ventures, natural arches, holesand hoodoos. The owner
welcomed us. Theranch is famous for dates and the group en-joyed
tasting date shakes out of the hot desertsun.
This was the end of the car tour except thatHal mentioned he was
going to stop on the wayback to Las Vegas near Shoshone, CA to
checkout a road cut with obsidian. We followed Halto the road cut .
The obsidian was soft—almostlike coal.
We said “Bye” to Hal who was heading homeand the rest of us
returned to the Silverton. Wehad a great day—thanks to Hal
Steiner.
MINUTES OF THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEET-ING OLD SPANISH TRAIL
ASSOCIATION
President Querfeld called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
REPORTS:
MINUTES OF THE 1998 ANNUAL MEETING:MOTION: Forgo the reading of
the minutes. Made,seconded and approved unanimously.
TREASURERS REPORT: Richard GreeneFiscal Year 1998-1999 (June 1 -
May 31)Revenues Expenses - ActualStarting Balance$1166 Spanish
Traces $ 989Nat’l. Conf. $1505 Nat’l.Conf.Rpt. $ 122Dues $2655
Membership Exp. $ 465Gifts - general $1255 Board Mtgs. $ 41Gifts -
markers $6612 CO Corp. Fee $ 45Promotions $ 60 LA Memorial
$1494Spanish Traces $ 57 Pioneer Woman Plaque $ 100Interest $ 65
Postage $ 359Total $13375 Off. Supplies $ 130
Promotions $ 554Current Balance $ 8085 Nat’l. Conf. $ 991
Total $5290
MOTION: Accept the Treasurers Report as presented.Made by Pat
Etter, seconded by Willard Lewis andpassed unanimously.
1998 ACTION ITEMS:Membership Growth - Richard Greene -
Membership hasgrown continuously throughout the year, increasing
fromapproximately 100 last year to a present 240. The president
thanked the Greenes for their major effort and a job well
done.
New Chapters - Willard Lewis - A new Chapter, formed inSouthern
California thanks to the efforts of John Robinson,has become our
largest Chapter. 1999 Priorities are:
1. Chapter in Nevada2. Two Chapters in Utah - Ron Jewkes.3.
Chapter in Durango, Colorado.
Chapter growth is not limited to these areas, but these
arepriorities.
Newsletter - Due to the Querfeld’s production of “SpanishTraces”
costs have been kept to a minimum. We need apermanent editor for
Spanish Traces, although the Querfeldswill continue to do the
layout. Spanish Traces needs articlesfrom the membership.
Bylaws - New bylaws are modeled on the Santa Fe TrailAssociation
bylaws. The Board approved them, as amended,January, 1999. They
were presented to the general member-ship, March 1999. Revisions
include, Board composition (onefrom each of our six states), terms
of office(Directors, threeyears, officers, one year), voting
procedures (general member-ship will vote by mail rather than at
the Annual Meeting).
MOTION: To approve Bylaws as presented. Made byReba Grandrud,
seconded by Rod Stock, and approvedunanimously.
Election of Directors and Officers - The following slate
ofOfficers and Board Members was presented for nomination.Past
President - Ron KesslerVice President - Willard
LewisDirector/Nevada - Elizabeth WarrenDirector/New Mexico - John
CoffmanAll other Directors and Officers remain.
MOTION: To bring slate to vote. Made by RebaGrandrud, Seconded
by Richard Greene, and approvedunanimously.
ONGOING PROJECTS:BLM Cooperative Agreement: - Board is in
favor.ational Park Service Report - Need to prepare an
officialresponse.Y2K Annual Conference: - proposed for Taos, NM or
LosAngeles, CA.Publicity: - Need a committee chairman to work
throughlocal and regional historical groups, create copy for
publica-tion, and project OSTA into public view.Mapping &
Marking: - Need to get organized and started.Clark Co. is leader in
marking and mapping historical sites.We should all work with our
own counties. Utah HistoricalSociety wants us to develop an
official logo that is simple andrecognizable for use on signs.
MOTION: To adjourn meeting. Made by Judy Querfeld,seconded by
John Robinson, and passed unanimously.
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR IN TAOS
This annual conference report is produced for OSTA members.
Narrative: Richard Greene; Photography: Marie and Richard Greene.
Editing and Layout: Judy and Charlie Querfeld. We extend our thanks
to all guest speakers and participants.
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Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage
PAIDAngel Fire, NM
Permit No. 7
Old Spanish Trail AssociationP.O. Box 483Angel Fire, NM
87710
The plaque at Blue Diamond, Nevada near Cottonwood Springs.
Here is your OSTA 1999 NationalConference Report
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR IN TAOS