The Butterfield route split off the Stockton - Los Angeles Road at Elkhorn Spring Station. From there it went west across the upper San Joaquin Valley, crossing El Camino Viejo on the Rancho San Luis Gonzaga (St. Louis Ranch). It crossed over the Diablo Mountains at Pacheco Pass to reach to Gilroy. It then proceeded north through the Santa Clara Valley and San Jose, to its western terminus in San Francisco, also the headquarters of the First Division of the Butterfield Overland Mail.[1]
Second Divisionedit
The Second Division's route from Fort Yuma to Warners Pass followed the Sonora Road, an old Spanish and Mexican trail from Sonora, México to San Diego. The Sonora Road linked with the Kearney Trail that was used during the Mexican–American War by the U.S. Army. During the California Gold Rush the route pioneered by Kearny and Cooke, with the addition of a road from Warner's Pass to the Pueblo of Los Angeles, became the Southern Emigrant Trail used by American immigrants.
Fort Tejon – Located 15 miles southwest of Sink of Tejon Station, north of and below the summit of Tejon Pass.
Reed's Station – Located 8 miles southeast of Fort Tejon, near, to the south of the summit of the Tejon Pass.
French John's Station – Located 14 miles east southeast of Reeds Station, in the vicinity of the mouth of Cow Springs Creek Canyon.
Mud Spring, a later station operating in 1860, 14 miles east from French Johns and 13 miles north from Clayton's Station (formerly Widow Smith's Station). [1]
Source: "List of Butterfield Overland Mail Stations "Itinerary of the Route"" (PDF). New York Times. October 14, 1858.
List of 2nd Division Stationsedit
Los Angeles – Located 12 miles southeast of Cahuenga Station in the pueblo of Los Angeles. The 2nd Division headquarters was in a brick building, consisting of an office, blacksmith shop, stables and sheds.
Sackett's Wells – a later station, located 171⁄2 miles east southeast of Carrizo Creek Station, 15 miles west northwest of Indian Wells.
Indian Wells Station – Located 32 miles southeast of Carisso Creek, near present day Heber, no water except at station.
New River Station – a later station, located 15 miles southeast of Indian Wells Station, in Baja California, 14 miles west of Alamo Mocho Station, in present day Mexicali.
Alamo Mocho Station – Located south of the Mexican border in Baja California, 38 miles east of Indian Wells Station, no water except at station.
Gardner's Wells Station – a later station, located south of the Mexican border in Baja California, 9 miles east of Alamo Mocho and 9 miles west of Seven Wells.
^Warren E. Beck, Ynez D. Haase, Historical Atlas of California, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman and London, 1974. pp. 51–52.
^Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: [Butterfield Trail] On The Border Near Algodones; The Wall, Plank Road, & Imperial (Days 3&4) [4K]. YouTube.
^[Butterfield Trail] Goat Canyon Trestle, Canyon Sin Nombre, & Vallecito Wash - (Day 2, cont.) [4K]. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-11.
^Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: [Butterfield Trail] Anza-Borrego: Font's Point, Culp Valley, & Vallecito Springs (Days 1 & 2) [4K]. YouTube.
^Leroy R. Hafen; David Dary (2004). The overland mail, 1849–1869: promoter of settlement precursor of railroads. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 97. ISBN 9780806136004.
^"THE WAR OF THE REBELLION: A COMPILATION OF THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES. CHAPTER LXII. OPERATIONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. JANUARY 1, 1861–JUNE 30, 1865. PART I., CORRESPONDENCE., pp. 710-712, Journal of the march of Companies E, G, and H, First Infantry California Volunteers, commanded by Lieut. Col. Joseph R. West, from Camp Latham to Fort Yuma". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
^Notes of a Trip to Los Angeles No. 1, Daily Alta California, Volume 12, Number 3888, 5 October 1860 – Page 1
^Lech, Steve (2012). Pioneers of Riverside County: The Spanish, Mexican and Early American Periods. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 88–9. ISBN 978-1609498313. OCLC 814373331.
External linksedit
Hanson, Robert (1969). "The Butterfield Overland Mail Route San Francisco to El Paso 1858-1861 (hand-drawn map)" – via Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Butterfield Overland Trail – Little Chuckwalla Mountains
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Butterfield Stage Station – Warner's Ranch
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Felipe-Butterfield Stage Station Historical Marker – Earthquake Valley
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Butterfield Historical Marker – Corona