Historical Settlement of North America (Chapter 3)

In Chapter 3, we learned about the historical settlement of North America, so I'd like to discuss the historical settlement of the Antelope Valley in this post.

The first-known inhabitants of the Antelope Valley were Native Americans known as the Kitanamuks, who lived in the Tahachapi Mountains and hunted and gathered down in the valley during the cooler seasons of the year. 

Some of the early explorers of the region included Captain Pedro Fages of Spain, who crossed the Antelope Valley in 1772 and was the first to record his observations of the Joshua Trees. Also, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza and Father Francisco Garces are credited with leading a colonizing expedition through the Antelope Valley from Mexico to Monterey in 1773. Other early explorers and trailblazers through the Antelope Valley included the famous mountain man Jededia Smith, who was the first American to explore the AV in 1872, and Kit Carson and General John C. Fremont who came to the Valley in 1834 and established a settlement near Elizabeth Lake.

Each of these early explorers undoubtedly encountered immense herds of antelope, which numbered approximately 60,000 until the late 1800s when they died in large numbers due to harsh winters and hunters. This is how the Antelope Valley received its name, although today antelopes are no longer found in this area.

Later, railroads and mining brought significant growth to the Antelope Valley. Farming and ranching were also important in the area. Two of the oldest buildings in the Antelope Valley still remain today, located in the two oldest cities in the area, Lancaster and Palmdale, and I have personally visited each of them. The Western Hotel was established in 1874 and now serves as a historical museum on Lancaster Boulevard:



Also, a one-room school house from 1888 still stands today at McAdam Park in Palmdale:


In the mid-1960s, the Antelope Valley Freeway (State Route 14) was completed, which connected the Antelope Valley to the Los Angeles and helped to spur increased growth and development in the AV. Now, in the twenty-first century, the Antelope Valley is a major suburban area, home to a strong aerospace industry. It continues to be one of the fastest growing areas in Southern California.

 (Source: https://www.wm.com/location/california/antelope-valley/lancaster/community/history.jsp)