The indigenous people left hardly any discernible footprints along faint pathways as they traveled up to the Mexican territory to trade goods.

The written history of the Mojave Valley dates back to the 1700s and the missionary excursions of Spanish Franciscan friar Francisco Garcés.

Garcés followed the earliest faint footpaths to the Mojave River Valley and from there across the desert around Barstow on his way to Spanish missions beyond the mountains of California.

Every fall and winter, as the weather cooled, the rain produced new grass growth and replenished the water sources in the Mojave Desert.

People, goods, and animal herds would move from New Mexico and later Utah to Los Angeles, along the Old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe, or after 1848, on the Mormon Road from Salt Lake City.

These travelers followed the course of the Mojave River, watering and camping at Fish Ponds on its south bank (west of Nebo Center) or 3.625 miles up river on the north bank, at a riverside grove of willows and cottonwoods, festooned with wild grapes, called Grapevines (later the site of North Barstow).

[13] Trading posts were established at Grapevines and Fish Ponds that supplied travelers on the roads and increasingly the miners that came into the Mojave Desert after the end of hostilities with the native people.

[14] Barstow's roots also lie in the rich mining history of the Mojave Desert following the discovery of gold and silver in the Owens Valley and in mountains to the east in the 1860s and 1870s.

[18][19][20] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 107.2 km2 (41.4 sq mi), 99.98% land and 0.02% water.

City residents have introduced many non-native plants, prominent among which are trees such as Aleppo pine, Morus alba, Italian cypress, fan palm, ailanthus, ash, palo verde and redbud.

It is a community venue, running various activities such as a summer reading program for children, story and craft sessions as well as a mystery book club.

Once a year a family opens their Black History collection to the public and nearby Fort Irwin is home to the 11 Cavalry and ACR Museum.

It includes a number of gift shops, an ice cream parlour, a Panda Express, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, KHWY radio station, and a Greyhound ticket terminal.

[32] In June 1997, the re-built restaurant received national attention when a gunman opened fire during a botched robbery, injuring several people and killing a nine-year-old girl.

The United States Army's National Training Center (NTC) and NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex are located at the nearby Fort Irwin, north of Barstow.

[35] Located 8 miles (13 km) north of Barstow, its landscape, multi-colored rock formations and canyons are visited by photographers, hikers, and campers.

[39] Barstow Community College's athletics department offers four competitive intercollegiate sports programs: men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball.

In addition to daily, weekly, and monthly activities, there is also an onsite thrift store and lunches are served every weekday.

[45] The structure of the management and coordination of city services is:[46] The Barstow Youth Advisory Council (BYAC) was established in March 2009.

[50] Its long distance from larger cities and urban centers has created economic problems, and Barstow is seeking projects to boost the economy.

[51] Additionally, various construction projects have been announced for Barstow, which include retail growth, an increase in lodging accommodation, and other businesses.

Park University has a campus located at the Marine Corps logistics base, which accepts local civilian students as well as military personnel and their dependents.

[69] Barstow's main radio station is KDUC (or "K-DUCK"), which plays adult contemporary music and also serves Victorville, Apple Valley, Hesperia and Ridgecrest, California.

"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold" is the opening sentence of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[70] A number of notable motion pictures were shot in the city,[71] including Broken Arrow,[72] Courage Under Fire,[73] From Dusk till Dawn,[74] Gattaca,[75] Erin Brockovich,[76] and Kill Bill: Volume 2.

The fictional Brian O'Conner in 2 Fast 2 Furious grew up in Barstow and travels to the city to persuade a former childhood best friend Roman Pearce to join him in an FBI operation.

Composer Harry Partch wrote "Barstow," inspired by eight pieces of graffiti written by hitchhikers on highway railings in the city.[81]].

When requested in advance, the county bus travels off the fixed route to pick up or drop off passengers within the deviation zone.

Intercity buses that serve Barstow include Greyhound, Orange Belt Stages, Intercalifornias, TUFESA, and Fronteras del Norte, and FlixBus.

[85][86] The Harvey House Railroad Depot is served twice daily by Amtrak's Southwest Chief, from Chicago to Los Angeles and reverse.