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The railway along The Bradshaw Trail.
The Bradshaw Trail....
By the fall of 1862 the Bradshaw route was pretty much accepted as the best route to the gold mines at La Paz with Bill Bradshaw himself guiding a party of 150 miners over the route from San Bernardino at that time. While freight wagons started using the route as soon as possible, it wasn’t until September of 1862 that the first passenger coach ventured over the route.
The active life-span of this route was about 15 years. By the spring of 1877 rails had been laid from San Bernardino by way of the San Gorgonio Pass to Indio, Mecca and Pilot Knob located on the California side of the Colorado River at Yuma. By now the placer mines at La Paz were exhausted and had been for several years. Also, nine years earlier in 1868, the county seat of Yuma County had been moved from La Paz to Arizona City or Yuma as it was later named.
So with the coming of the railroad the Bradshaw Trail passed into history. A century was to pass before this once active but almost forgotten route was re- established. In 1977 the State Highway Commission officially designated this as the Bradshaw Trail a Historical Route. With few variations it follows the original route. Parts of the road passing through the Chocolate Mountain Impact Area, is closed during the week but it is all open to the public on the week-ends.
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The Bradshaw Trail....
By the fall of 1862 the Bradshaw route was pretty much accepted as the best route to the gold mines at La Paz with Bill Bradshaw himself guiding a party of 150 miners over the route from San Bernardino at that time. While freight wagons started using the route as soon as possible, it wasn’t until September of 1862 that the first passenger coach ventured over the route.
The active life-span of this route was about 15 years. By the spring of 1877 rails had been laid from San Bernardino by way of the San Gorgonio Pass to Indio, Mecca and Pilot Knob located on the California side of the Colorado River at Yuma. By now the placer mines at La Paz were exhausted and had been for several years. Also, nine years earlier in 1868, the county seat of Yuma County had been moved from La Paz to Arizona City or Yuma as it was later named.
So with the coming of the railroad the Bradshaw Trail passed into history. A century was to pass before this once active but almost forgotten route was re- established. In 1977 the State Highway Commission officially designated this as the Bradshaw Trail a Historical Route. With few variations it follows the original route. Parts of the road passing through the Chocolate Mountain Impact Area, is closed during the week but it is all open to the public on the week-ends.
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