The Amazing Edward Fitzgerald Beale

As I began to research I-40, it quickly became apparent that this interstate followed a rather historic path. Several specific events led to the popularization of this westward-leading route, but the man who deserves the credit for making it the road it is today would have to be E.F. Beale.

A heroic figure from the 1800s, this man did more in his lifetime than anyone I have ever read about. The son of a War of 1812 “Medal for Valor” recipient, Beale followed in his father's footsteps--leading a life marked by adventure, impressive undertakings and unstoppable courage.

Beale himself was a military man, risking his life more than once to seek information while undercover behind enemy lines. During the Mexican-American War--in the battle of San Pasqual-- he and his friend Kit Carson snuck past the Mexican troops that surrounded them to go after reinforcements. It was heroic acts like these that proved him to be the stuff legends are made of.

Prominent men sought Beale out; friendships with the likes of Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill Cody and Ulysses S. Grant gave him an air of 19th century significance. In fact, rubbing elbows with American presidents became the norm for Beale. In the late 1830s, President Andrew Jackson appointed him to Naval School in Philadelphia. After graduating, he sailed for several years with Robert F. Stockton, another prominent mid-19th century figure and a man of great wealth and power.

 

Following the Mexican-American War, Beale became a resident of San Francisco. It was here that he received his next presidential appointment: Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada by President Fillmore. Under this title, he was able to improved native conditions and negotiate peace treaties between the U.S. Army and Native Americans.

In 1848, Beale carried the first gold samples, as proof of gold in California, to the federal government. With the rush of gold-seekers that followed, a new demand for a trans-continental road developed. Beale was the right man for the job. When President James Buchanan appointed him to survey a wagon road from New Mexico to California in 1857, Beale used a creative strategy: camels as pack animals. Because they could travel for days without water and carry heavier loads than mules, camels seemed to be the perfect answer to developing the 1000 mile wagon road that crawled through the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona and California. 25 camels from Tunis, Tunisia were led by Beale's camel driver--Hadji Ali, a very colorful and animated individual who is now buried under a pyramid built from local stones topped with a copper camel in Quartzsite, Arizona. President Lincoln later appointed Beale to complete the roadway by incorporating a portion of known trails from Ft. Smith, Arkansas to the Colorado River.

 

The resulting Beale Wagon Road technically became the first interstate highway and the general route of U.S. Route 66, the Santa Fe Railway and Interstate 40.

Edward Fitzgerald Beale did finally settle down to build his Tejon Ranch (the brand is a single cross on a hill) after he purchased a large parcel of Mexican land. Tejon Ranch remains the largest private land holding in California.

A colorful leader in many prominent ways, this 1800s explorer, frontiersman and diplomat--of both Native American affairs and later as the ambassador to Austria-Hungary (appointed by President Grant in 1876)--changed the face of the West by building a road.