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California Forming Chapters of
New Butterfield National Historic Trail Association
By Ann Jarmusch
September/October 2023
 Map of the Overland Mail route from St. Louis and Memphis to San Francisco. The route extended 2,800 miles and was the longest stage line in the world. The middle portion, approximately 1,100 miles, crossed the Chihuahua, Sonora, and Colorado deserts.
 Ancient trade routes of Native American bands such as Kamia, Cahuilla, Diegueño, and Luiseño connected the desert and the well-watered valleys to the west. The trail seen here is still clearly visible today. Also following that same dusty, rutted track were Kearny's Army of the West, the Mormon Battalion, the Butterfield Overland Mail stages, and hundreds of thousands of immigrants who settled the West. Photo by Bruce Coons |
The Butterfield Overland Mail Route, which stopped at Warner-Carrillo Ranch House in Warner Springs, and other stage stations in San Diego County, is now a National Historic Trail! Designated by Congress in January 2023, this legendary route and stagecoach mail and passenger service were integral to settling California and other states through the emigration of hundreds of thousands of non-Native individuals and families.
San Diego County is one of 13 in California marked by this fascinating, notoriously rough and dusty trail. At least that’s how it remains in San Diego’s back country—a heart-stopping sight of a narrow, rugged trace, when you think about all those brave, hopeful souls, near the Warner-Carrillo Ranch House Museum, which SOHO manages and interprets.
The recently founded Butterfield National Historic Trail Association aims to form chapters in California and the six other states the historic trail traverses: 3,000 non-continuous miles in all, from the Mississippi River to San Francisco.
See a map of the Butterfield Overland route and zoom in on specific parts, courtesy of the National Park Service (NPS)
The association’s fledgling California Chapter interim board of directors wants to place signs along the route, advance further study of it and its effects on the state, and organize public meetings to share research findings, all in conjunction with NPS. The chapter founders are seeking California volunteers to achieve these goals.
For more information or to join the association, email Steve Lech, Rebecca Farnbach, or Jim Sappington.
Related SOHO online exhibit and Warner-Carrillo Ranch House info
“250,000 Emigrants, the Overland Mail, and One Extraordinary Latina: The Warner-Carrillo Ranch House,” illustrated with paintings by Marjorie Reed. Especially enjoy the following sections:
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