Butterfield Overland Mail in California

The Butterfield Overland Mail in California was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until June 30, 1861.

Subsequently, other stage lines operated along the Butterfield Overland Mail in route in Alta California until the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Yuma, Arizona in 1877.

During the California Gold Rush the route pioneered by Kearny and Cooke, with the addition of a road from Warner's Pass to the Pueblo of Los Angeles, became the Southern Emigrant Trail used by American immigrants.

The route crossed the Colorado River from New Mexico Territory at present day Yuma, Arizona to Fort Yuma in California, then descended into Baja California Mexico for 129 miles (208 km) to avoid the Algodones Dunes sand barrier[2] in the dry southern Colorado Desert.

The 2nd Division was headquartered in a brick building at the Pueblo de Los Angeles, consisting of an office, blacksmith shop, stables and sheds.