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Corn Springs is a palm oasis situated in the
, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 2010-06-13. At times, there was enough surface water for
A BLM-run campground, with a well for drawing water from the spring, was established nearby. One mile past the camp ground is a miner's cabin and the remains of one of the mills. Edward Wodetzki and family mined this area until the early 1980s. At the time they had numerous gold, silver, and iron ore claims. More mines and cabins are located further up the road.
Chuckwalla Mountains
The Chuckwalla Mountains are a mountain range in the transition zone between the Colorado Desert—Sonoran Desert and the Mojave Desert, climatically and vegetationally, in Riverside County of southern California.
Geography
The range spans abou ...
of the Colorado Desert
California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.
Geography and geology
The Colorado De ...
in Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...
, United States, seventeen miles southeast of Desert Center. Native Americans relied on the springs, and they engraved many petroglyphs
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
on the rocks in the area. In the late 19th century, miners in the area also relied on the springs, and they established the Corn Springs Mining District in 1897.Gunther, Jane Davies (1984). ''Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories''. Riverside, CA: Rubidoux Printing Company. pp. 132–134. LOC Catalog: 84-72920.
The springs were added to the United States National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1998.
History
The springs were used for thousands of years by nomadic Native Americans. The Chemehuevi, Desert Cahuilla and Yuma bands frequented the spring and carved elaboratepetroglyphs
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
in the nearby rocks. Some of the oldest rock art is over 10,000 years old.Corn Springs Campground, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 2010-06-13. At times, there was enough surface water for
gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...
by the springs. The Indians also utilized the fruit of the palms.
Early white visitors found feral corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
plants in the vicinity, giving the spring its present name.
In the late 19th century, miners came to the area and used the water for processing their gold ore. The most notable resident of the spring was Gus Lederer, the self-proclaimed "Mayor of Corn Springs". Lederer lived at the spring until 1932, when he died from a black widow spider
''Latrodectus'' is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows. This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders. Howeve ...
bite, and was subsequently buried at Aztec Wells". Following Lederer's death in 1932, the land passed into public domain and the Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
(BLM) established a campground.
A BLM-run campground, with a well for drawing water from the spring, was established nearby. One mile past the camp ground is a miner's cabin and the remains of one of the mills. Edward Wodetzki and family mined this area until the early 1980s. At the time they had numerous gold, silver, and iron ore claims. More mines and cabins are located further up the road.
Geography
The area is located on the USGS ''Corn Spring, California'', 7.5-minute quadrangle (1981) at latitude/longitude . Over 60California Fan Palm
''Washingtonia filifera'', the desert fan palm, California fan palm, or California palm,Flora of North America Association. ''Flora of North America: North of Mexico Volume 22: Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (in Part), and Zi ...
s surround the spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
. Typically there is no surface flow, but the wash that drains the area is named the Corn Springs Wash.,
The spring is dynamic, and for unknown reasons the amount of water coming to the surface has fluctuated widely over the years. The source of the water is unknown – very little rain falls in the area, and the nearest body of water is the Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
, over 40 miles to the east.
The spring can be reached via Corn Springs Road from Chuckawalla Valley Road just off Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
, about halfway between Indio Indio may refer to:
Places
* Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England
* Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States
People with the name
* Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson
* Índio, ...
and Blythe The name Blythe ( or ) derives from Old English ''bliþe'' ("joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant"; modern ''blithe''), and further back from Proto-Germanic ''*blithiz'' ("gentle, kind").
People
* Blythe (given name), including a list of people named ...
.
References
External links
* {{National Register of Historic Places Oases of California Springs of California Colorado Desert Bodies of water of Riverside County, California Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Riverside County, California Mining in Riverside County, California