Fort Soda: An Outpost at the Springs
Near Zzyzx, California
Reliable water is the rarest thing in this desert, and Soda Springs has drawn people for as long as anyone has crossed the Mojave. In the nineteenth century, when the United States Army was trying to protect the wagon route across the desert, it planted a small outpost right here at the springs. It is remembered as Fort Soda.
The post was one link in a chain of tiny garrisons the Army strung along the Mojave Road, guarding the scarce water sources at Piute Springs, Rock Springs, Marl Springs, Soda Springs, and Camp Cady to the west. Soldiers stationed at these lonely spots escorted mail, guarded travelers, and clashed at times with the Native peoples whose land and springs the road had seized. The fort at Soda Springs never amounted to much, and it was abandoned once the frontier moved on.
But its presence tells you why this place mattered. Whoever held the springs at Soda held the key to the whole crossing. Springer's resort, the soda works, and the Army post were all, in the end, drawn to the same precious thing.
Water in a place with almost none.
