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

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

was one of the wells developed by the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...

, as a part of its improvements of its

Colorado Desert The Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to ...

route between Cooke's Wells Station 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, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. However the locality remained in use as a watering place for travelers on the

Southern Emigrant Trail :''The Southern Emigrant Trail should not be confused with the Applegate Trail, which is part of the Emigrant Trail, Northern Emigrant Trails.'' The Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, the Southern Trail and ...

and was a post for Union Army units moving back and forth between

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the 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 ...

. In the journal of an 1861 march of California Volunteers to

Fort Yuma Fort Yuma was a fort in California located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was established in 1848. It served as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861. The fort was retired from ...

, Lieut. Col. Joseph R. West 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) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

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