Breaking Mules
"The only mules emigrants could buy seemed to be unbroken ones. McIlhany says it took him a month to 'get acquainted' with mules purchased at St. Joe . . .…
Platte River Road
"'Platte River Road' is an authentic historical term, used by many travelers. It is the most logical term to cover all continental trails up the Platte, from 1830, when Smith,…
Lower and Upper California Crossings
"Between Fort Kearny and Fort Laramie there were only two divergences that are noteworthy; both pertain to the late period of the trail. Until 1859 all travel on the south…
The Superhighway of Westward Expansion
"The route from Fort Kearny to Fort Laramie was the superhighway of westward expansion. There were many 'jumping-off places' for emigrants along the Missouri River from Independence to Omaha, but…
Raids on Butterfield Stations in Texas
"Texas's secession vote in February 1861 prompted Congress a few weeks later to move the overland mail service from the southern route to a central route through the country's midsection,…
The Wake of the Prairie Schooner
Irene D. Paden, The Wake of the Prairie Schooner (1944) For nine summers during the 1930s and early '40s, Paden and her husband (who was superintendent of schools in Alameda…
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May 26, 2020
Mile 2148: Placerville
"And Hangtown—what of it? Built flimsily at a carefree slant on the two sides of a shallow pine-filled canyon, the log-framed, canvas-roofed buildings of '49 gradually gave way to better…
Mile 2126-2148: Pacific House to Placerville
Fifteen miles above Hangtown [Placerville] the teams reached Pacific House, at fourteen, Bullion Bend, where a stage was held up and loot is supposed to be buried; at twelve, Sportsman's…
Mile 2098: Strawberry, CA
"[The hostelry at Strawberry] belonged to a man named Berry who sold straw under the name of hay and received the unflattering sobriquet old Straw Berry."
Mile 2062-2098: Original Route over Echo Summit
"The Pony Express, in 1860, passed up West Carson Canyon into Hope Valley and then northward through Luther's Pass, up to Echo Lake by way of Johnson's pass, at the…
Mile 2056: Mormon Station/Genoa, NV
"Mormons had established a permanent settlement at Mormon Station, now Genoa, which was a rankling thorn in [the local Native Americans'] flesh. It was, however, a genuine spine-stiffener for the…
Marcus Whitman
"The next year, 1835, when the traders' great caravan under Fontenelle came west to the rendezvous, they brought two other famous men, Samuel Parker and the young Marcus Whitman, bot…
Emigrant Impressions of Salt Lake City
"To the Argonauts of '49, the Mormons were a fascinating enigma. They had declared themselves an independent state and were functioning in that status; but actually the group was a…
Mile 1311-1322: Mountain Dell to Journey’s End
"[From Little Mountain] Seven miles yet intervened between these recklessly intermingled people and the City of the Great Salt Lake, most of them in narrow, rock-bound brushy Emigration Canyon. Between…
Mile 1235-1311: Henefer to Mountain Dell station
"Beyond [Henefer Creek's] headwaters, the great wagons rolled and thundered through Pratt's Pass on the summit of a low divide.Down another steep hill the wagons pitched while all hands and…