By John Paulsen

Since the early 1800s, and perhaps earlier, there had been a well used foot trail between the Prescott/Verde area of the Arizona Territory and the Colorado River. By the mid-1880s, this footpath had developed into a well traveled and maintained wagon road for freight wagons moving to and from Fort Mohave, established in April of 1859 on the east side of the river, 7 miles south of present day Bullhead City. The fort provided protection against the Indians for California immigrants traveling across the Beale Wagon Road in northern Arizona Territory. The post was abandoned and the buildings were burned in 1861 due to the outbreak of the Civil War when the soldiers were sent east to join the war. It was re-garrisoned in 1863 and was assigned to protect the travelers along the Fort Mohave/Prescott Road.

Spanning a distance of 165 miles, the road ran northeast from the Colorado River to Mineral City, crossing the Cerbat Mountain Range (near Kingman), then south to Beale’s Spring, Hualapai Spring, Willow Grove and Fort Rock. From there it crossed the Baca Float, ascending southwest through Aztec Pass (now Juniper Pass) to Fort Hualapai at Walnut Creek and on through Williamson Valley (Simmons) to Prescott.

The road along Walnut Creek to the top of Aztec Pass required more maintenance than the other sections to the extent that a William Harrison Hardy and a crew of Hualapai Indians maintained it regularly. Hardy was the founder of Hardyville (present day Bullhead City) and he bought the franchise for the Mohave/Prescott Road in 1866. To offset the cost, Hardy installed a gate near the foot of Aztec Pass and collected a toll from the freight wagons. The road became known as the Hardyville Road. When the Hualapai deserted, maintenance became a problem. To protect not only the wagons but also numerous settlers in the area, the army built and occupied a series of forts, the first and largest of which, in May 1869, was near the toll gate at Aztec Pass and was called, appropriately, Camp Tollgate (renamed Camp Hualapai a year later). Each month of occupancy, the military forts and camps in the Arizona territory had to report the number of military and civilian personnel stationed at each camp. As a result, these population reports provide what is probably the most accurate accounting of the number of personnel at each facility as well as give an appreciation of the contributions in terms of horse feed as well as military need for vegetables, meat and other supplies. At its peak in 1870, Camp Hualapai had a complement of 242 men, mostly from the 8th Cavalry, with some from the 3rd Cavlary and the 12th U. S. Infantry. It was abandoned in August 1873 when the Indian threats appear to have quieted down.

A smaller fort, Camp Rawlins, was occupied from April to August 1870 to the east side of Williamson Valley near the wagon route, perhaps due to a localized Indian problem, numbering from 51 to 128 men. The garrison was made up of units of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry and 12th U. S. Infantry, most likely sent over from Camp Hualapai. Other small camps along the road such as Anvil Rock, Beale Springs and Willow Grove, one by one, were abandoned along with Rawlins and Hualapai beginning in 1873.

The civilian population in the area along the southern half of the Hardyville wagon road in the early 1870s consisted primarily of ranchers and farmers with a smaller number of miners. Two articles in The Miner newspaper in 1871 provide observations about the local population. One article described a trip to Camp Hualapai via Williamson Valley with the military paymaster and several civilians noting that there were a "score of ranches" found where three years prior it was reported "scarcely a house was found." The other article was apparently written by a "senior" (editor?) of the newspaper who, along with a man and his wife and five other civilians, made a trip from Prescott to Fort Mohave. The route was described as generally open with areas of cedars and junipers. It was mentioned that most of the hay, corn and potatoes used along the entire route came from the Williamson Valley area. There was no mention of a military guard for the party. Neither was there mention of any problems with Indians during the trip.

Undoubtedly many of the farmers and ranchers prospered during the period of the army camps, due at least in part to the need of supplying the army infantry and cavalry present in the area. It is also more than likely that the number of people in the area also increased substantially during this period. A measure of this increase is to be found in the establishing of an area school with an enrollment of 26 students by S. Charmingdale Rogers in 1879. The small town named Charmingdale was established about 1 mile northwest of "old" Camp Hualapai and when the camp was abandoned the town of Chamingdale was "moved" and its name changed to "Juniper."

A post office was established in the small town of Charmingdale in January 1879, only to be removed in November of 1880. Not to be outdone, a post office was established in "old" Camp Hualapai on November 28, 1882, only to be removed in April of 1883. When the camp was re-named "Juniper," a post office was begun there in 1883. Even this identifier of civilization was removed, but not until July of 1910. (Currently, the post office for this entire area is Prescott.)

The Great Registers provided a census of the civilian adult males in the area. They can be used as an indicator of population trends and a measure of the total population.

1876 1880 1890 1900

Walnut Creek 12 16 28 2

Fort Rock 2 1

Mount Hope 12 21

Williamson Valley (Simmons) 36 66 37 11

Camp Hualapai 1

Charmingdale 2

Juniper 5 11

Note again, the census numbers reflected adult males only. The percentage of these men having wives and children is unknown but other indicators leave us to reasonably assume that their families, at least in the areas of Walnut Creek and Williamson Valley, may add approximately 25% to the population numbers. There was also a substantial population of native peoples not counted in The Register.

Today, ruins and foundations may be found at many of these locations along what’s left of the Prescott/Fort Mohave Road.

There are several other Days Past articles covering various aspects of the Fort Mohave/Prescott Road (Hardyville Road) which make for informative, interesting reading: 9/18/2005; 2/9/2003; 12/30/2001; 8/16/1998.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(courtesy of Historic Trails) Reuse only by permission.

The Prescott/Fort Mohave Road, established by the 1st AZ Territorial Assembly in 1864 to connect the territorial capital of Prescott with trade routes along the Colorado River was known later as the Hardyville Road when William Harrison Hardy purchased the franchise to manage it in 1866.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb010f5i4f) Reuse only bypermission.

A sign was placed in 1953 marking the site of Old Hualapai Camp by the General George Crook chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb086f4i5) Reuse only bypermission.

An undated photograph taken at Walnut Creek School.