Gardener's Wells Station was built at the site of Gardener's Wells in

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

was one of the wells developed by the Butterfield Overland Mail, as a part of its improvements of its

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 ...

route between

Cooke's Wells Station Cooke's Wells Station a stage station of the Butterfeild Overland Mail, located south of the Mexican border, in the old Alamos River bed, about 1 km west northwest of Mérida, Baja California. Its site was at Cooke's Wells, named for Philip S ...

and Alamo Mocho Station. These wells allowed travel along the level ground along the 19th century course of the Alamo River, avoiding the more difficult route up on Andrade Mesa. Gardener's Wells Station was in operation until March 1861 when the Butterfield route was abandoned for the Central Route by the beginning of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. However the locality remained in use as a watering place for travelers on the Southern Emigrant Trail and was a post for

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

units moving back and forth between

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

. In the journal of an 1861 march of California Volunteers to Fort Yuma, Lieut. Col.

Joseph R. West Joseph Rodman West (September 19, 1822 – October 31, 1898) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Union general in the United States Army during and after the American Civil War and the chief executive of the District of Columbia. As a ...

described the old station:

November 1.- Left Alamo Station at 4.50 p.m.; road inferior. Gardner's Wells (old mail station, but water has failed), nine miles; thence by same character of road and country to Salt or Seven Wells, and camped. Water plenty, but brackish; wood abundant. Weather warm. Distance previous, 108 miles; distance to-day, 18 miles; distance in eight days, 126 miles.

The Gardner's Well Station was in use again by stagecoach lines from 1867 until 1877 when the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

reached Fort Yuma. It was then abandoned but the well continued in use until the river changed course in 1905. Today Gardner's Well is located about three miles north of Querétaro, Baja California in the bed of the old Alamo River.Jonas, Wells, n. 21, 39

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner's Wells Station Butterfield Overland Mail in Baja California American frontier Former populated places in Mexicali Municipality, Baja California Stagecoach stops