Since ancient times, indigenous peoples used the many trail networks of the East Mojave Desert for seasonal migration and trade with coastal Indians, with many trails converging at narrow passes and safe river crossings such as the Lower Narrows, or Lane's Crossing, where the Serrano-Vanyume village of Tobiabit stood and the Mojave River flowed almost all year, giving travelers water and rest. The first American expedition to use this crossing was led by Jedediah Smith in 1826, and other notable explorers who used it included Father Garces in 1776, William Wolfskill in 1830, and John C. Fremont in 1844. The crossing became an important waypoint on the Mojave Road between Prescott, Arizona and Wilmington, California, used by camels, wagons, soldiers, gold seekers, and outlaws. Aaron Lane, born in New Hampshire in 1818, enlisted in Company H of the 9th U.S. Infantry in 1847 to fight in the Mexican War, contracted malaria in Mexico, and after leaving service moved to Calavaras County, California in 1850 and later to San Bernardino, where business and health prospects were better. Seeing the commercial value of this heavily traveled Mojave River crossing, he moved there in 1858 and established Lane's Pioneer Station, serving immigrants, freighters, traders, and also horse thieves and rustlers. In 1859 a group of Indians raided Lane's home and stole all of his possessions, but he endured further hardships, prospered, sold out in 1865, and died on September 14, 1883, remembered as a California pioneer.
