The End of the Line Changes to the Trail California National Historie
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California National Historie Trail The California Nat ional Historie Trai l spans 2,000 miles across the United States. lt brought em igrants, gold-seekers, merchants, and others west to California in the l 800s. The Bu reau of Land Management in California manages four segments, nearly 140-miles of the trail, the Appl egate, the Lassen, the Nobles, and the Yreka . Set ee n 1841 and 1869, more than 250,000 emigrants traversed the Cal ifornia Trail. Lured by gold, farmland and a promise of paradise in California, mid l 9th century emigrants used the Ca lifornia a 1onal Historie Tra il for a migration route to the west. umerous routes emerged in attempts to create the best available course. Today, this t rail offer s auto ouring, educa ional programs and vi siter centers to present-day gold seekers arid explorers. ln 1992, Congress designated the Californ ia Trail system as a National Historie Trail. ln 2000, it also became part of the ln April of 1852, William H. Nobles Bureau of Land anagement's system of National Conservation Lands. This is a 36 million-acre collection of treasured landscapes conserved by the Bureau of La nd Management. Find out more at www bl gov/ programs/ national Z:6Z:E-LSZ: (OES) placed a notice in the Shasta Courier Changes to the Trail conservation-lands. Of: L96 V'J 'a ll!Auesns announcing a meeting in Shasta +aaJ+S Mopay+eaM S L L The original route runs from Black Roc Springs, wnasnl/\l 1e::> !JO+S! H uasse1 Ala!OOS 1eo!JOlS!H A}uno~ uasse1 City, where he would reveal his newly Nevada to Shasta City, California and as used mainly w+y ·xapu1/ 0Ael/Ao5·sdu-MMM discovered wagon route, which later from 1852 to 1869. Ou ring its heyday, po ions of he trail were realigned for a more optimal pa h. The obles 08vv-S6S (OES) :aUOl.jd E9096 V'J 'leJaU!l/\I OO L X08 Od became known as the Nobles Trail. Trail offered a major advantage over o her routes in wnaSnl/\I S!WOOl the area. The new trail offered a more graduai ascent >tJed 1euO!leN ::>!ueo10J\ uasse1 Nobles proposed this deal to into California over the Cascade Range and gentler / Ao5·e::i·aJ!IPl!M"MMM the Shasta City merchants: descent into the Sacramento Va lley. 1 also avoided long vv99-vSZ: (OES) :aUOl.jd if the new route proved to stretches of the dreaded 40-mile desert ha he Truckee eaw êlJ!IPl!M a>1e1 i\auoH be an improvement from the and Carson trails crossed. A}uno~ uasse1 'aJ!IPl!M pue lJS!.:I JO }uawi1edaa e!LIJOJ!fe~ previously established traits, Nobles Trail Today they would pay him $2,000, a The growing infrastructure and settlement of the /sn·pafSfMMM substantial sum at the time. If west led to the need for wagon road improvement. Today you can follow the emigrants' footsteps in LS LZ:-LSZ: (OES) :a UOL.Jd OE L96 V'J 'all!AUesns the route was not satisfactory, landscapes rem iniscent of the 1800s on public lands Established by the federal government in 1857, the ëlA!JO ap!SJêlA!l::l OSSZ: Nobles stated he would take no Pacifie Wagon Road Office oversaw the construction managed by the BL , Lassen National Forest, and a::i1Jrn s,JOS!AJadns payment. The merchants were and maintenance of nation's wagon roa ds. The survey Lassen Vo lcanic Park. A 38-mile section of the Nobles +sa10.:11euO!leN uasse1 excited about the new route William H. Nobles and improvement of the Fort Kearney-South Pass Trail passes through BLM Eagle Lake Field OffJce and once the six week round trip Honey Lake Wagon Road Project, including the Nobles administered lands. This section of trail t raverses the was complete, they paid his tee and he returned home Trail, was commissioned. lmprovements to the road and Smoke Creek Desert, Smoke Creek Canyon, Rush Creek to Minnesota. development of water sources occurred in 1860. Valley, the southern section of Mud Flat out to Honey Lake, and the Susan River area. Sorne segments of t rait are still used by modern travelers, such as portions of Smoke Creek Road. Other segments of trail can only be traveled on foot and still other sections are lost. .'..AN CE ,, F E Before the Trail \ \ Although some of the emigrant trails were new, many shadowed earlier lndian routes that followed major river systems and crossed imposing mountain ranges. lnitially, American lndians assisted and guided explorers and emigrants. However, as time progressed and the number of travelers increased, conflict and confrontations escalated. Thousands of emigrants and their cattle, horses, and sheep, t ravel ed west of the Mississippi River into and across American lndian traditional homelands from 1840 to 1880. Emigrant wagon roads, incoming settlers, Paiute conical burden basket and pine nut gathering tools. Special government policy towards lndians, and the railroad Collections, University of Nevada, Reno Libraries. led to loss of traditional lifestyles and undermined the American lndians' political and economic Long before the first Euro-American explorers and 5 independence. Today, the local lndian peoples use \, settlers made it to Ca lifornia, American lndians lived natural resources near the Nobles Trail to continue in the areas crossed by the Nobles Tra il. Emigrants aspects of t heir traditional culture. t ravel ing the Nobles Trai l encountered several American lndian tribes. Within the eastern half of the trail, this "i:ssus T ADLP.. included the Kammu Tukadu and Wadakhut bands of the l"w r. Population. /ncrcn«,. - -- Jnnunry 1, 1849 (Eotimat.ctl). .. ... .. 2G,OOO .< "" !8 Northern Paiute people. 1s50..... J0ï,OG!1 s 1,om1 ,,hN ./ ; .1, 18!i2 . ... ... ........... .. .•.. 2G 1 ,4 :1 ~ 1 i 1 , ~:l ISGO ..... • .. • ...... .. .. :~ï!l,!194 1 l!i,55!J l l Important local resources included pi ne nuts, other 1! .1 1\1 18i0 . .......... .... .. !'1G0,24 ï 1 80, ~5 :1 ~ large and small seeds, root crops, and berries. Peop le i t'' t 18 (l . ... ..... .. .... .... ... 8G4 ,S:IG 304,riS!l • 1/-?t hunted large game including deer, bighorn sheep, and • -.::-6é/_ Cen sus showing Ca lifornia population increase, 1849- 1880. pronghorn with bow and arrow, t raps and corrals. Lassen Historical Museum 11 5 N Weatherlow St, The End of the Line Find Out More Susanville, CA 96130. (530) 257-3292. • Auto Tour Routes for the Callfornla National There are many sources of information for the Nobles By 1869, the Central Pacifie Railroad ran from it continued to be used as a road bet 1een settlements Historie Trail by National Park Service: Sacramento, over the Sierra Nevada, and a long the in northern California and in some areas by he loggin g Tra il. Museums, parks, and partners have exhibits and https://www.nps.gov/poex/planyourvisit/upload/ NevadaATR-IG-041612_web.pdf Humboldt River in Nevada. This offered a more efficient industry. Today, some portions of the obi es Trail can staries documenting the emigrant and Native American way for passengers and freight to enter Ca lifornia. White be traveled by vehicles or on foot, while other portions experiences. Sorne of these include: Nobles Trail Photo Tour by Traits West, lnc.: http://emigranttrailswest.org/ virtual-tour/nobles-trail/ the Nobles Trai t was abandoned as an emigrant trail, have disappeared completely. A Guide to the Nobles Trail by Richard K. Brock and Robert S. Black. 2008. Trails West, lnc. Reno, NV. https://emigranttrailswest.org/ BLM/CA/G l/201 7/ Ol 3+8600+8300 Leave No Trace Visit the Trail! Leave 1852 Take only pictures and leave artifacts where you fmd them. No Trails West, lnc. has installed trail markers made of Nobles announces his new wagon route to the merchants The Archaeological Resources Trace·· 1851 of Shasta City. The trail runs from Black Rock Hot Springs. 1861 Protection Act of 1979 makes steel railroad rails inscribed with with brief excerpts CenterforOUtdoorEthics I LNT.org William H. Nobles proposes to route his new Nevada to Shasta Cit y, California. The improved route Gold and silver are discovered in t he Humboldt removal of cultural resources from emigrant journals. Trails West is a non-profit emigrant trail to Peter Lassen's Ranch in Tehama offers a gentler ascent and descent into Ca lifornia and Range, between Lovelock and Winnemucca, punishable by fines and jail time. County for a tee. He involves other entrepreneurs Nevada. A series of wagon roads are built from historical organization dedicated to locating, marking, avoids crossing long stretches of the dreaded 40-mile in the plan in order to create a lucrative trade desert. The merchants in Shasta City pay him $2,00 0 for the Sacramento Va ll ey to the mines. Segments Camp away from sensitive areas such as Smoke Cree k Cave. Nobles Tra il. and other associat ed archaeolog ical sites. and preserving the California Trail and its many monopoly a long the new trail. Negotiations break the new route. of the Nobles Tra il are included in these roads. branches. The 61 markers are located along the trail down due t o tensions between Lassen and the Report looting, graffiti, and trail damage t o t he Bureau of Land other entrepreneurs. Nobles decides to look from its beginning where it leaves the Applegate Trail Management. Eag le La ke Field Office, Susanville. California. elsewhere for a terminus to his route. (Marker N-1) in Nevada to its end near Shasta City, 1857 1869 Travel Responsibly by staying on designated roads and t rail s.