California Deserts
Much of the eastern half of southern California is a large desert triangle--a vast expanse of sandy valleys, dried lake beds, and short ranges of rugged mountains. These southern deserts were as much a barrier to overland migration to California in the eighteenth century as the steep eastern face of the Sierra Nevada was in the nineteenth.
Among the deserts of California are the Mojave and Colorado as well as the foreboding Death Valley.
Mojave Desert
The Mojave is the largest desert in California, covering some 25,000 square miles. Much of the surface consists of immense stretches of sandy soil. Active volcanoes erupted long ago, depositing layers of lava, mud, and ash onto the desert floor. Today the region is dotted with extinct volcanic cones and small isolated mountain ranges.
Several Native cultures, including the Quechan (Yuma) and Mojave, flourished along the Colorado River. Others, such as the Cahuilla and Serrano, lived farther west. The Old Spanish Trail crossed the region in the late eighteenth century, as did the Santa Fe railroad in the nineteenth. Today the region supports several resort centers and successful farming communities in the western Antelope Valley. Dry lake beds contain rich deposits of boron, a valuable mineral used for jet-engine and rocket fuels.
Colorado Desert
The Colorado Desert stretches over 4,000 square miles in southeastern California. Part of a great depression that extends southward to the Gulf of California, the desert lies 245 feet below sea level at some points.
The Colorado Desert includes the Coachella and Imperial valleys with the Salton Sea between. The Salton Sea was formed in 1905-1907 when waters from the Colorado River overflowed an irrigation system. Irrigation today supports a thriving agricultural economy in both the Coachella and Imperial valleys. Leading crops include lettuce, alfalfa, cotton, and sugar beets. Palm Springs is an elegant resort community, famous for its warm winter sunshine and star-studded population.
Death Valley
The most notorious of the California deserts is Death Valley, a deep trough about 130 miles long and six to fourteen miles wide. In the center of the valley is Badwater, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level.
Death Valley was named by a group of gold-seekers who struggled through the region in 1849. Following the discovery of rich deposits of borax in 1873, the valley became famous for its twenty-mule teams hauling out wagon-loads of this valuable mineral. Because of its scenic, scientific, and historical interest, the region was included within the Death Valley National Monument in 1933.