Before the European exploration of North America, tribes of Native Americans, such as the
Mohave (in the Mojave desert), the
Chemehuevi (in the Great Basin desert), and the
Quechan (in the Colorado desert) were
hunter-gatherers living in the California deserts. European explorers started exploring the deserts beginning in the 18th century.
Francisco Garcés, a
Franciscan friar, was the first explorer of the Colorado and Mojave deserts in 1776. Garcés recorded information about the original inhabitants of the deserts. Later, as American interests expanded into California, American explorers started probing the California deserts.
Jedediah Smith travelled through the Great Basin and Mojave deserts in 1826, finally reaching the
San Gabriel Mission.
John C. Frémont explored the Great Basin, proving that water did not flow out of it to the ocean, and provided maps that the
forty-niners used to get to California. The
California Gold Rush jumpstarted economic activity in the California deserts. Mining for
silver,
gold, and
lead became important in both the Mojave and the Great Basin deserts. Mining stimulated the creation of transportation systems, such as the
Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. ==Tourism==