Mud Spring (Antelope Valley)

Mud Spring, formerly called Aquaje Lodoso (muddy watering place), is a spring and historic site in the western Antelope Valley, within northern Los Angeles County, southern California.

Mud Spring
Location	Antelope Valley, Mojave Desert, Los Angeles County, California, United States
Coordinates	34°42′36″N 118°25′04″W
Elevation	2,871 feet (875 m) above sea level

It is located the western Mojave Desert at an elevation of 2,871 feet (875 m), north of Lake Hughes and east of the Tehachapi Mountains.[1]

History

El Camino Viejo

Aquaje Lodoso was an aguaje, a watering place on the Spanish and Mexican El Camino Viejo inland north-south route in colonial Alta California. It was located between Elizabeth Lake and Cow Spring water sources.

It was also a watering place on the Old Tejon Pass road between the Antelope and San Joaquin Valleys in the 1840s and early 1850s until that road was replaced by the Stockton–Los Angeles Road, a new and easier road through Fort Tejon Pass.[2]

Stockton - Los Angeles Road

The Butterfield Overland Mail 1st Division had a station operating at Mud Springs, on the Stockton - Los Angeles Road. In 1860, a correspondent of the Daily Alta California wrote an account of his travel by stagecoach to Los Angeles from San Francisco. He mentions that the Butterfield Overland Mail (1857-1861) had a station operating at Mud Springs in 1860.[3]

It was 14 miles (23 km) east from French John's Station, and 13 miles (21 km) north from Clayton's—Widow Smith's Station near San Francisquito Pass in the Sierra Pelona Mountains.[4]

References

U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mud Spring
Frank F. Latta, "EL CAMINO VIEJO á LOS ANGELES" - The Oldest Road of the San Joaquin Valley]; Bear State Books, Exeter, 2006. p.21
List of Butterfield Overland Mail Stations, from the New York Times, October 14 1858, "Itinerary of the Route"
Notes of a Trip to Los Angeles No. 1, Daily Alta California, Volume 12, Number 3888, 5 October 1860 — Page 1

Butterfield Overland Mail 1st Division Stations

San Francisco – Western terminus and 1st Division headquarters, located in downtown San Francisco.
Clarks's Station – Located 12 miles south of San Francisco in what is now San Bruno.
Sun Water Station – Located 9 miles south of Clarks Station in what is now San Mateo.
Redwood City – Located 9 miles south of Sun Water Station.
Mountain View Station – Located 12 miles south of Redwood City.
San Jose Station – Located 11 miles south of Mountain View Station in the city of San Jose.
Seventeen Mile House – Located 17 miles south of San Jose.
Gilroy Station – Located 13 miles south of Seventeen Mile House in what is now Gilroy, California.
Pacheco Pass Station – Located 18 miles east of Gilroy near the top of Pacheco Pass.
St. Louis Ranch – Located 17 miles east of Pacheco Pass.
Lone Willow Station – Located 18 miles east of St. Louis Ranch near Los Banos.
Temple's Ranch – Located 13 miles southeast of Lone Willow Station near Dos Palos.
Firebaugh's Ferry – Located 15 miles southeast of Temples Ranch, on the San Joaquin River.
Fresno City – Located 19 miles southeast of Firebaugh's Ferry.
Elkhorn Spring Station – Located 22 miles east of Fresno City near present-day Riverdale.
Whitmore's Ferry – Located 17 miles southeast of Elkhorn Spring Station on the Kings River.
Head of Cross Creek Station – Located 15 miles southeast of Whitmore's Ferry.
Visalia – Located 12 miles southeast of Cross Creek Station.
Packwood Station – Located 12 miles east of Visalia.
Tule River Station – Located 14 miles south of Packwood Station.
Fountain Spring Station – Located 14 miles southeast of Tule River Station.
Mountain House – Located 12 miles south of Fountain Spring Station.
Posey Creek Station – Located 15 miles southwest of Mountain House, on Posey (Poso) Creek.
Gordon's Ferry (Kern River Station) – Located 10 miles south of Posey Creek Station on the Kern River just above present-day Bakersfield.
Kern River Slough Station – Located 12 miles south of Gordons Ferry.
Sink of Tejon Station – Located 14 miles southwest of Kern River Slough Station.
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]
Widow Smith's Station (Clayton's Station, Major Gordon's Station) – Located 24 miles from French John's Station, in upper San Francisquito Canyon near Green Valley.
King's Station – Located 10 miles south of Widow Smith's Station in lower San Francisquito Canyon.
Hart's Station or Lyons Station – Located 12 miles south of King's Station, near Santa Clara River.
Lopez Station – Located 8¹⁄₂ miles southeast of Hart's Station, in the San Fernando Valley north of Mission San Fernando Rey de España.
Cahuenga Station – Located 12 miles southeast of Mission San Fernando, in Cahuenga Pass, of the Santa Monica Mountains. The first station of the 1st Division, it was located 12 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Source: "List of Butterfield Overland Mail Stations "Itinerary of the Route"" (PDF). New York Times. October 14, 1858.

[1] Notes of a Trip to Los Angeles No. 1, Daily Alta California, Volume 12, Number 3888, 5 October 1860 — Page 1

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Mud Spring (Antelope Valley)

History

El Camino Viejo

Stockton - Los Angeles Road

See also

References