History
The mountains were part of the homeland of the Mojave people for thousands of years.
The late 18th century Spanish explorer and missionary Francisco Garcés crossed the Las Californias Mojave Desert territory with the 1774 Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition from New Spain (Mexico) to Monterey Bay in Alta California, and referred to the Providence and New York Mountains together as the Sierra de Santa Coleta, as considering them one mountain range from western Van Winkle Mountain (California) to eastern Crescent Peak (Nevada) is conceivable. Francisco Garcés crossed through Cedar Canyon, a pass between the New York and Providence Mountains.
19th century pioneer travelers on the Mojave Road found springs and streams in the mountains and "thanked Divine Providence," resulting in the range receiving the present name. Mining in several areas has continued off and on for over a century.
The range became part of the Mojave National Preserve in 1994, under National Park Service conservation and recreation direction.
Read more about this topic: Providence Mountains
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
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“Most events recorded in history are more remarkable than important, like eclipses of the sun and moon, by which all are attracted, but whose effects no one takes the trouble to calculate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)