Just across the California border lies this most interesting desert. It is a favorite of mine, so rich in history. It received its name back in 1844 when John C. Fremont explored the region. His party noted the dust storms created on the playa there cast a smokey hue.
Fremont was not the only explorer to the desert, as he was followed by William H. Nobles who created a new emigrant road that traversed Smoke Creek—it was a direct route to the Northern California mines. In 1865, the military established Fort Bidwell in Surprise Valley. The military plotted an unusual supply route that went along the west side of the Smoke Creek Desert and then followed Smoke Creek in a haphazard manner to Surprise Valley. This route was far from ideal, which was replaced by route through Buffalo Meadows. Traffic would diminish significantly when in 1890 Fort Bidwell was closed.
By the early 1900s, Smoke Creek was dotted with desert homesteaders during the dry farming experience that did not work so well to many.