Bitter Spring

Bitter Spring, in California’s Mojave Desert, was a crucial water and food source in a harsh landscape. Long used by Native peoples, it later became an important stop on the Old Spanish Trail and then on the Mormon Road, the Southern Route of the California Trail, and the Los Angeles–Salt Lake Road, linking the interior Southwest with California. Accounts from the early 1850s noted its brackish water, nearby grass, and its use as a message point for travelers. Bitter Spring was also the site of a violent U.S. Army episode in 1859–1860, when Camp Bitter Springs and the Bitter Spring Expedition briefly operated there.

California · United States