West Mojave Desert
The Antelope Valley in California, United States is located in northern Los Angeles County and the southeastern portion of Kern County, California and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated between the Tehachapi and the San Gabriel Mountains.[1]
The valley was named for the graceful animals that are said to have roamed there until being eliminated by hunters and bad weather in the 1880s.[1] The principal cities in the Antelope Valley are Palmdale and Lancaster.
Geography
- Shaped like an arrowhead pointing to the left, the Antelope Valley comprises the western tip of the Mojave Desert, opening …
Flora and Fauna
- The Antelope Valley is home to a wide range of plants and animals, all of which are adapted to the area’s climate. It is home to hundreds of plants like …
Human history
- The first peoples of the Antelope Valley include the Kawaiisu, Kitanemuk, Serrano, and Tataviam. The valley was first entered by …
(via Digital Desert)
History Antelope Valley
(Photo: Western Hotel, Lancaster Blvd)
The Antelope Valley is a 3,000-square-mile high desert closed basin that straddles northern Los Angeles County and southern Kern County. One of nine California valleys with the same name, this one lies in the western Mojave high desert and includes the communities of Lancaster, Palmdale, Rosamond and Mojave. Populated by different cultures for an estimated 11,000 years, the Antelope Valley was a trade route for Native Americans traveling from Arizona and New Mexico to California’s coast. Though the first wave of non-native exploration took place in the early 1770s, a later exploratory period starting in the 1840s led to the valley’s first permanent settlement during the following decade, fueled by California’s Gold Rush and new status as American territory. The 1854 establishment of the Fort Tejon military post near Castac Lake and Grapevine Canyon created a gateway for valley traffic.