The picture above an to the left photo taken above the Upper Narrows in 1929 and has been inhanced using Geographic Information Service (GIS) technology . The year 1929 was the last year the Mohave tui Chub was native in the Mojave River before the Arroyo Chub was introduced. (Click on the image above to get a larger photo) The photo on the right was taken a day after afire burned 25 acres within on the Lewis Center's property.
This view, a pan to the left from the previous view, shows the main railroad line from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City as it passes out of the Mojave Desert into Cajon Pass and the Los Angeles basin. This single-track line is built on a berm that forces most surface water moving down the Mojave River to the left (east), although ground-water seepage appears in pools on the right. At left, the river floodplain has scattered Goodding willows. At right center, the railroad berm truncates a meander of the river, which now appears to be a disconnected slough with scattered trees along its banks (David Thompson 446, USGS Photo Library). (This picture was taken in the year 1917).
(Photo and text credithttp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/ofr01-245/html/victorville.html )
(October 24, 2000). Cottonwoods and developments now dominate the view, and the channel of the Mojave River cannot be seen. The old bridge was replaced twice, once by a similar two-lane bridge and then more recently by the four-lane bridge shown at lower right (Dominic Oldershaw, Stake 2111).
(Photo and text credithttp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/ofr01-245/html/victorville.html )
(October 24, 2000). Development associated with downtown Victorville has changed the land use away from ranching, and no grazing occurs here. The perennial flow creates ideal conditions for the growth of riparian vegetation. The width of the channel has decreased by about two thirds, and the floodplain now is occupied by tamarisk, native willows, and herbaceous species. Cottonwood trees now dominate the river on both sides (Dominic Oldershaw, Stake 2110c).
(Photo and text credithttp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/ofr01-245/html/victorville.html )
The picture shown above was taken 1917 by David Thompson.
(Photo and text credithttp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/ofr01-245/html/victorville.html )
This is the oldest picture we could find it was taken in the year 1901. This downstream view towards Lower Narrows shows the former highway bridge across the Mojave River below the Narrows as well as the main railroad line leading towards Barstow. The trees in the middle distance and on river left are a mixture of cottonwoods and Goodding willows. The river channel is very wide, probably in response to 19th century floods including the 1891 event (M.R. Campbell 173, USGS Photo Library).
(Photo and text credithttp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/ofr01-245/html/victorville.html )
(1917). In this third view, a pan even further to the left from the two above, the trees appear to be mostly Goodding willow. A few cottonwoods appear in this view, particularly one at lower center, and some low shrubs along the channel appear to be coyote willows. The Mojave River is flowing towards the camera and has a wide, mostly denuded floodplain. Vegetation on this floodplain may be recovering from damages sustained in the 1916 flood, which was one of the largest on the Mojave River (David Thompson 447, USGS Photo Library).
(Photo and text credithttp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/ofr01-245/html/victorville.html )
(October 24, 2000). Most of the riparian forest shown in this view is in the Mojave Narrows Regional Park. The channel of the Mojave River has decreased to a mere fraction of its former width, in part because of regulation by dams upstream and the influence of the riparian vegetation. The trees present are mostly cottonwoods, but very large Goodding willows and other species are also present. The white haze in the background is smog over Cajon Pass (Dominic Oldershaw, Stake 2110e). (Photo and text credit http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/of/ofr01-245/html/victorville.html)
The Upper Narrows that is shown above is the more recreational part of the Mojave River thanks to the Apple Valley Parks and Recreation center. For example the Upper Narrows is home of the annual Huck Finn Jubilee that commences every Father's Day weekend.
