This year, 2026, is historically monumental for the United States. A year of celebrations is occurring across the breadth and width of this country, showing the world how awesome this land wrested away from a British Monarch truly is.
It’s been 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, telling King George III that it was too late to say he was sorry for treating the colonists so badly.
It’s been 100 years since the opening of the iconic Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, enabling car-loving Americans to travel 2,448 miles independently and in relative comfort across eight different states.
And, it’s been 250 years since a hard-walking Franciscan missionary by the name of Fray Francisco Garces became the first European to lay eyes on the rushing waters of the Colorado River near Laughlin, Nevada.
Of course, rather than the glittering lights of casinos, only small native villages occupied by the Mohave people greeted his eyes at that time. It was their home. But seeing that this sandal-wearing, robed man meant them no harm, they were eager to assist the explorer.
Garces was on a mission, pun intended, to find a land route between the missions of Sonora, Mexico, and those in California.
Any person who has traveled through the Mojave Desert understands how desolate and lonely it can be. Of course, along Route 40, Route 66, or Interstate 15, travel is not so bad. There are rest areas, high-priced gas stations, interesting eateries, a few motels, and quirky towns to visit. But, in 1775 and 1776, there was nothing but hard-packed desert floor, limited water sources, venomous snakes, and not a Starbucks to be found.
It was not for the timid.
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| Not for the timid |
By the end of February the following year, Garces and his group had reached multiple Mohave villages located near present-day Laughlin and Bullhead City. They marveled at the nearly quarter-mile-wide river flowing southward.
It must have been a wonderful sight in the middle of the vastness of the desert.
The natives welcomed him to the land that no outsider had seen before. This was the land they had lived in for nearly 800 years - though some experts claim it could have been for thousands of years.
Garces traveled from one village to another, meeting the very people for whom the desert is now named. He was impressed by how they managed to thrive in such an inhospitable world, living on the fish the river's blue, flowing waters provided, and on what they could harvest from the plants in the area. Pinyon pine nuts, mesquite beans, yucca fruit, chia seeds, and cactus fruit were a daily nutritional diet that the desert yielded.
On March 4, 1776, Father Garces and his group were led across the Mojave Desert toward the Pacific Coast along with four Mohave guides. They eventually reached the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel 20 days later.
Garces returned to the Mohave villages in May of 1776, following ancient routes the natives had used for eons to trade with other tribes to the west.
Unfortunately, near present-day Yuma, Father Garces was killed during a Quechan (Yuma) uprising against Spanish forces on July 19, 1781.
Garces' legacy, besides being a man of the cloth, was one of risking his own safety while exploring the desert wilderness where no European had ventured before. He met many native peoples who found him trustworthy and treated him respectfully, as he did those who crossed his path.
The Mojave Desert is vast, covering nearly 48,000 square miles, depending on the boundaries used, and oftentimes daunting for a traveler even today.
I have had the pleasure of exploring some of it, and what I have discovered is that it is a place full of life and beauty.
Of course, exploring this massive, stark landscape is a little different while tooling around in an air-conditioned four-wheel drive vehicle in lieu of a pair of leather sandals.
It is hard to imagine the fortitude and bravery it took 250 years ago to venture out to literally parts unknown with little more than the horizon to guide them. Today, we have satellite GPS, and we still get lost.
There is a large sign just south of Laughlin, Nevada, along the Needles Highway, which tells a short version of Father Garces' exploration in the area in 1776.
To the east are the sparkling waters of the Colorado River; to the west are the endless hills, sandy washes, and harshness of the Mojave Desert.
I hiked out about one mile west over that rocky, uneven ground, sporting a nice pair of Keen boots, and realized that was about as far as I wanted to venture.
Whether you are considering our Founding Fathers, who began the grand experiment that became the USA, or the ones who stretched asphalt over two thousand miles from east to west, or a sandal-wearing Franciscan, these were determined and unstoppable individuals.
A lot to celebrate this year, from coast to coast.
John can be reached at beyersbyways@gmail.com
