Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park is a national park located in southeastern California, covering a total area of 795,156 acres, slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. It includes parts of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts, with the Little San Bernardino Mountains traversing its southwest edge. The park was originally declared a national monument in 1936 and redesignated as a national park in 1994. The earliest known residents of the area were the Pinto Culture, followed by the Serrano, Cahuilla, and Chemehuevi peoples, who lived in small villages and subsisted on plant foods and small game. The park has a rich history of human presence, with European explorers first sighting Joshua trees in 1772 and American fur trappers following in the early 19th century. The park's history is also marked by the activities of white settlers, who grazed cattle, built wells, and mined for gold and silver between the 1860s and 1940s.learn more on wikipedia