Camino del Diablo

The 49'ers Told It Like It Was... El Camino del Diablo

Lost amidst the burnt-dry hills of the desert, home of the cactus, thorny bush and rattlesnake, lies one of the oldest and most desolate trails of the history-rich Southwest. The Mexican people of the frontier named it as they experienced it: El Camino del Diablo, the Highway of the Devil. Trekked uneventfully for hundreds of years by Indians and a few solitary Conquistadors, the trail's reputation for death beneath a scorching sun did not come about until January, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. California was still a Mexican province at the time, but within a few weeks the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave all of that and most of the neighboring Southwest to the United States-part of the spoils of war.

Residents of Sonora and Sinaloa, Mexico, rushed to the gold fields. Hurrying toward the Sierra Nevada, their numbers led to establishment of the town called Sonoita. From here, adventurers raced across the scorching desert route toward Yuma Crossing and on toward the Mother Lode. Their numbers overtaxed the limited water supplies at the half-dozen natural tanks. Many people even started out with-out sufficient food or pack animals, but greed spurred them to a reckless run for the river.

Soon the desert route was marked with bleaching bones of fallen livestock and gold seekers. Crosses stood over graves of those fortunate enough to be buried by companions, while vultures circled above other travelers staggering to their death. At Sonoita, the last town before the unoccupied stretch leading 125 miles to the safety of the Colorado River, the tales of horror and tragedy grew. Rescue parties ventured out, but they most often returned in despair.

Sonoita folk warned travelers, saying it was El Camino del Diablo - the Devil's Highway but their warnings went unheeded. For two more decades, as the bonanza continued in California and political unrest continued in Mexico, people risked their lives against the desert, even though the odds were overwhelmingly against them.

While El Camino del Diablo had sometimes been described as the entire diagonal stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border, from Nogales to the Colorado River, the forbidding portion which gave the route its name was the western half of that distance. West of Sonoita was deep sand, desolation and only five or six sources of water. And of those, the only one which was never failing was also the most dangerous from which to obtain water. It was as if the Devil sought the death of his prey at this solitary site just when water promised life.

Sonoita was the jumping-off place for travelers going westward along El Camino. The journey started off in a guileful way . . . running five or six miles west along the Sonoita River then turning sharply north for a mile and a half to a point just a few yards across the Arizona border. There waited the lovely oasis of Quitobaquito (many small springs), a pool sometimes as extensive as an acre in size. Lush grasses and trees grew at its edge, frogs croaked and birds fluttered in this never-failing shaded oasis in the heart of the desert.

From here, the main road led northward around the eastern edge of the Agua Dulce Mountains (sweet water), then turned westerly until it came to Papago Wells (about four miles north of the international boundary).

In the days of the gold rush this could only have been a sink or low place where water would be found seasonally. But today it has been developed by the federal government as a permanent water supply to support animal life protected in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Here, a windmill squeaks soulfully as it pumps water into a high shaded tank. Birds and small animals gather at watering troughs designed with ramps and screens. The water level is guaranteed by automatic drawdown from the storage tank.

West from Papago Wells, El Camino led the goldseekers over the outthrust northern segment of the vast Pinacate Lava Fields. A scorching, blistering area in summer where 130° plus temperatures exceed even those of Death Valley. At isolated spots, such as Las Playas, to the east of the lava flows, and on the Tule Desert, to the west of it, water from infrequent seasonal rains collected in low places or playas. If a person were lucky enough to arrive in the area after a rain . . . and found these places before the sun evaporated the scanty ponds . . . it could well save his life for the next tortuous leg of El Camino del Diablo.

Across the broad Tule Desert, which courses northwesterly from the lava flow, the trail led along the northern edge of the Tuseral Mountains and then bumpety-bumped its way to Tule Tank. (Tule is a type of desert bush.) This was one of the most dependable water holes in the area. Located 1600 feet up a side canyon from the clearly defined ruts of the historic Camino, Tule Tank was easier to miss than find, and many who were rushing to the California goldfields did just that.

Today, less than three miles from ancient Tule Tank is Tule Wells. Here another federal windmill lifts water to accommodate wild creatures and provide potable water for a small, simple public campground.

The track of the Devil now led westward across the Lechuguilla Desert (a lettuce-like plant) to the most famous and dependable source of water between Sonoita and the Colorado or Gila rivers - Tinajas Altas (high tanks). Located about three miles north of the Mexican border, on the southeastern flank of the Tinajas Altas Mountain Range, a series of nine natural tanks, arranged one above the other, are foundin a steep, bolder strewn, muscle test-ing, leg snapping granite gorge.

While there is no record that the entire series of holes were ever concurrently dry, the site offers such difficulties of access that both man and beast often died by the lower dried up pool because they were too weak to make the arduous, circuitous climb to the upper tanks. At the turn of the century more than 50 graves could be counted on a flat piece of ground near this dramatic series of water holes.

West of Tinajas Altas is the Yuma Desert. It is as forbidding and awesome as the fabled Sahara, with large sand dunes stretching to the point where the dissipated Colorado River enters the Sea of Cortez. Early travelers could see their goal from high points on the mountain, when late afternoon sun glittered off the sea. It looked like two, maybe three days of easy walking, a mere 50 miles. But hurrying on, they entered the parched Yuma Desert, and before they realized what was happening found themselves bogged in seemingly endless sand dunes, too weak to go on and with not enough water to go back, many perished.

Later, when the Gila River route became better known, wise travelers stayed to the east of the Tinajas Altas and Gila mountains. This northerly route allowed another watering at a place Father Kino called Agua Escondido (lost or hidden water). Although unconfirmable, its probable location is now called Raven Tank. This route, as it turned out, is actually almost as short a distance and certainly a firmer road than the shifting sands of the Yuma Desert. This seemingly erroneous north-ward turn in the Camino was actually the escape route that led weary travelers to the much desired water for themselves, and good forage for their animals at the Gila River, some 45 miles from Tinajas Altas.

Once at the Gila, travelers were safe and often paused in cottonwood and willow groves to rest their animals and restore strength to their own dehydrated bodies. From here it was 20 wet, refreshing, comfortable miles to Yuma Crossing.

This was the end of the Camino del Diablo, but the perils of frontier life did not end at Yuma. Before reaching the goldfields of California these determined souls would have to face still more sand dunes and desolation. They had survived the Devil's Highway, but the Devil himself had not yet given up.

WARNING to El Camino del Diablo Travelers

Travel along El Camino del Diablo is now controlled and restricted, but it is not prohibited. Much of the route runs through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge. However, a considerable portion of the route intrudes into the U.S. Air Force Gunnery and Bombing Range where active military training is conducted on an almost daily basis. Travel is permitted only on days when operations are not scheduled. The route is extremely difficult! Heavy sand and rough dips after intermittent rains make it unwise for any vehicles to enter the area alone. Four-wheel-drive vehicles, traveling in pairs, are recommended. Only designated roads may be used, with vehicle travel restricted to 50 feet on either side of marked routes. Summer travel is extremely risky and not recommended. Even today, this is one of the most remote and forbidding parts of the U.S. The water at Papago and Tule Wells may be consumed by humans only if it is essential, because it is brackish and may cause physical discomnfort. Applications for entry permits require coordination of the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. A limited number of permits may be arranged by contacting the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 1032, Yuma, AZ 85364, or P.O. Box 418, Ajo, AZ 85321. A minimum of two weeks advance notice is required.