the north of the Virgin River to bypass the many crossings of that river, its quicksands, its sandy roads and the steep road into and out of the river valley at Virgin Hill. It ran between the old road at Castle Cliff, west to Mormon Well up Beaver Dam Creek from the Virgin River, then westward south of the mountains, to rejoin the old road on Mormon Mesa, south of Mormon Mountain. With the advent of the transcontinental railroad in Utah in 1869, the wagon road was used decreasingly when long-haul wagons were replaced by wagons from the rail-heads as the rails advanced southwestward in Utah between the 1870s and 1890s. However, as a long-haul road it remained in use in Southern California until the Santa Fe Railroad came to Southern California in 1883. The northern Mojave Desert region of California, southern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona still used the road until the Salt Lake Route was built through them in 1903–1905. Legacy In the early 20th Century, much of the old road became the Arrowhead Trail (auto trail) one of the first automobile highways in and between Utah, Southern Nevada and Southern California. I-15 follows or closely parallels its route for much of its length from Devore, California to Victorville, California, from Barstow, to Yermo, California, from Las Vegas, Nevada to Littlefield, Arizona and from St. George, Utah to Salt Lake City. See also Old Spanish Trail (trade route) References Trails and roads in the American Old West Arizona Territory Historic trails and roads in Arizona History of California Historic trails and roads in California History of Nevada New Mexico Territory Historic trails and roads in Nevada Utah Territory Historic trails and roads in Utah