The 1st Adventure Rider

[Kaw'ee 10]

Juan Bautista de Anza,

IN THE YEAR 1774 in this part of the country there were no trails to speak of. True, there were the Indian paths that led nowhere and were to be avoided. And there was one other that he was sure of.

On March 10, 1774 the party reached a watering place at the junction of Carrizo Creek and San Felipe Wash. Sebastian recognized the marshy area as the point where the route turned into the mountains. A thankful Anza named it San Sebastian in El Peregrino's honor. (It is now Harper's Well, located a few miles east of Anza-Borrego State Park.)

The party then turned west and followed the rocky bed of San Felipe Creek into the broad Borrego Valley. Ahead lay Coyote Creek and the pathway over the mountains promised by Sebastian.

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Only a nightmare now were the many dry camps behind them; the wells that turned to salt after the animals drank a little, and the deadliest of all desert stretches over what is now the Anza-Borrego.

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Anza sank to his knees. He clasped his hands until his huge knuckles turned white. He lifted his face to the heavens and tilted his grizzled beard to the pale moon. The Anza trail was broken. Father Garces, the adventurer, was off on the greatest adventure of all. Anza wept. He murmured, "Vaya con Dios, amigo."

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They had conquered the desert.

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"On September 16, 1926, the valley's name was changed to Anza Valley in honor of Juan Bautista de Anza.

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How the anza borrego was won @

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http://personal.linkline.com/shoe62/anza/jba.html

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[dirt dame 561]

And a rather fetching DOT piece of head gear he had to conquer the desert in.