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| The Lost Horse Mine stamp mill is one of the best preserved in California thanks to Joshua Tree National Park's dry desert environment. |
The area that makes up the modern park has been inhabited for several thousand years. Archeologists know the Pinto Culture hunted game and gathered plants in the area between 8000 and 4000 BCE. Rather than the stark desert it is today, at that time the land was much wetter with trees growing on the mountain sides.
Prior to the arrival of Euro-Americans, the region served as the seasonal home for the Serrano, Cahuilla and Chemehuevi tribes. The Mojave tribe also traveled through the area, using trails between the Colorado River and Pacific Ocean.
Spaniards explored the area in 1772 and then Mexicans, upon gaining independence from Spain, in 1823 sent an expedition there. The area became part of the United States in 1848 following the Mexican-American War.
During the mid-1800s, ranchers arrived and mainly grazed cattle on the desert’s tall grasses. They were followed by miners, who between the 1860s and the early 1930s operated several gold, silver and zinc mines. Ranching did not prove profitable in the dry heat, and soon the sparse mineral veins were tapped out.
The advent of the automobile brought day trippers to the desert, however. Thanks to the work of Minerva Hoyt and other activists, the area was named a national monument in 1936.
Its status was upgraded to a national park in 1994. At that time, the park’s size also increased by 235,000 square acres.
Today, Joshua Tree receives about a million visitors a year.
Some great trails to explore the park’s history include:
• Indian Cove Trail (Native American use of desert fauna)
• Barker Dam Nature Trail (ranching history and petroglyphs)
• Lost Horse Mine Trail (mining ruins)
