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.

IN 1857, JOHN WARREN BUTTERFIELD (1801-1869) won a six-year, $600,000-per-year federal contract to transport mail twice a week between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California, with each trip to take 25 days. It was the first regularly scheduled transcontinental mail contract ever awarded in the United States.

As California's first regular overland transcontinental stage connection with St. Louis, this pioneering stage route ran along the Missouri Trail. Overland trails were built by pioneers and immigrants throughout the 19th century, and especially between 1829 and 1870, as an alternative to sea and railroad transport. The Missouri trail was the most southerly and the only all-weather route to California. Built on the Emigrant Trail, the ranch house figured prominently in the settlers' diaries as their first glimpse of "the promised land," the first well-watered valley to be encountered after crossing the great southwestern deserts.

The Warner-Carrillo Ranch House's historic setting has changed very little from the time of the great western migration and presents a rare opportunity to experience the past.

The adobe itself maintains a high degree of architectural integrity including a great deal of its historic fabric, such as the original fireplace mantel, much of the woodwork, and vigas (wood ceiling beams). Thousands of settlers, gold prospectors, soldiers, and adventurers stopped at the house, which served as the Butterfield Stage Stop from 1858 until the Civil War began in 1861.

The ranch house plays a leading role in the history of the American West. It represents Mexican and American cultural contact during the Mexican Republic; the Frontier period of the westward migration; the Gold Rush; and the cattle ranching industry, from 19th-century California through the 20th century to today.

The Butterfield route lasted from 1857 to 1861 and became one of the most important roads in the early settlement and development of California. The ranch's importance as the Butterfield Stage Station and part of the Southern Emigrant Trail cannot be overstated, and is why it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.

(Right) Ranch house east and north elevations, 1960. Photo by Philipp Rittermann. Courtesy Historic American Buildings Survey

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

BETWEEN THE YEARS 1841 and 1869, the United States witnessed one of the greatest migrations in its history.

For nearly three decades, settlers emigrating from the eastern United States were spurred by various motives, among them religious persecution, homesteading opportunities, and economic incentives. But it was the 1849 Gold Rush that brought the largest waves of people. The history of the overland trails and the emigrants who traveled them are some of the most significant influences that shaped the nation.

There were other routes west but most people traveled on overland trails. It took a typical emigrant family three to six months to make this roughly 2000-mile journey.

The Southern Emigrant Trail, was also known as the Gila Trail, Kearny Trail, Southern Trail, and Butterfield Stage Trail. It was a major land route for immigration into California from the eastern United States.

Unlike the more northern routes, travel was possible year-round as mountain passes were not blocked by snow. However, the Southern Emigrant Trail had the disadvantage of intense summer heat and lack of water in New Mexico's desert region's (which included what is now Arizona), and the Colorado Desert.

These trails began as animal paths worn further by indigenous peoples, fur trappers, and mountain men, and finally, as overland passage for the general American public.

During the years these overland trails were in use, settlers' relations with Native Americans changed. Indeed, at the start of their journey, they represented the greatest fear for many emigrants. After some time on the trail, most learned that there was little reason to be afraid. Instead of fighting, most natives wanted to trade with the travelers for useful things like metal pots, beads, ammunition, and cloth. The emigrants often needed things indigenous people had to offer, too, like robes made from animal skins, fresh food, and help in crossing rivers.

As its popularity increased and emigrants began settling along the trail, relations between groups became strained. Emigrants consumed resources, contaminated water supplies, and transmitted diseases. In the end it was Native Americans who had more reason to fear the emigrants. Within 50 years of the first wagon trails, Whites had disrupted or nearly destroyed their traditional ways of life.