National Trails Intermountain Region News U.S. Department of the Interior

Oregon and National Historic Trails

Horseshoe Spring Crossroads Chapter - California National Historic Trail Oregon-California Trails Association Hastings Cutoff Bureau of Land Management National Park Service What’s New? Spring 2011 Department of the Interior The Great Emigrant Flood off 1849-1854 We are excited to provide this istorians often compare the 1848 discovery of gold in American Indians especiallyly susufferedffered ffromrom the streaminstreamingg HCalifornia to the effect high octane fuel has on a fire. onslaught of “forty-niners”” across the landscape. For update on activities since OCTA’s Within the next few years more than 250,000 gold-seekers centuries, native peoples hadad lived in the West and farmers scrambled across the Sierra- in search of without outside competitionon fforor fortune or a new life. resources. However, the floodood ooff last meeting in August 2010 in pioneers and the additionalal The road to California was not a single route. It followed rivalry for food sources, the established to before splitting land, water, and Elko, Nevada. either toward or to , and eventually space threatened to the Sierra-Nevada, where it further split into several interior destroy their way of life. valley destinations. One of the routes through , known as the Hastings Cutoff, rejoined the main at the Wagon ruts and traces can Humboldt River in northeastern Nevada. still be found in the vast undeveloped West — Travel conditions on the cutoff during most years were reminders of the triumphs,, generally harsh. Grass for livestock, food to eat, and clean struggles, and sacrifices Public Scoping Meetings water to drink became scarcer as the pioneers advanced made by those who westward. Cholera and other diseases took their toll as well. blazed a road through the wilderness in pursuit of a ddream.ream.



   "  $ &         ! "  &'      ) &    #    NPS will conduct public scoping this $ %   ! 

 " ! “We were now thrown entirely upon our own resources. All the country beyond was to us a   (( &    veritable terra incognita, and we only knew that California lay to the west. Captain Fitzpatrick

    #$ spring and summer for the Four          was not much better informed, but he had heard that parties had penetrated the country to the        &'   southwest and west of Salt Lake to trap for beaver; and by his advice four of our men went with       the parties to Fort Hall to consult Captain Grant …to gain information. Meanwhile our depleted 

Trails Feasibility Study to evaluate the       party slowly made its way down the west side of Bear River.”   &' addition of 64 routes to the Oregon, The California National Historic Trail, and the Hastings Cutoff between Fort Bridger and northeastern Nevada. - John Bidwell, “The First Emigrant Train to California,” The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 41:1 (November 1890)” California, Mormon Pioneer, and One of six new interpretive exhibits being installed on the Hastings Cutoff this year. National Historic Trails.

To locate a meeting near you or Exhibit, Research, & Highway Sign Project Updates comment on the study, visit: Exhibits: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/FourtrailFS t Six new interpretive exhibits were completed with OCTA’s Crossroads Chapter and will be installed this spring along a portion of the Hastings Cutoff Trail. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has also produced Local New Faces and Places Tour Route (LTR) highway signs for installation along SR 196. t New art and updated designs have been created but not yet finalized for updating four exhibit panels at Donner Spring. The Salt Lake City staff decreased t One of two new exhibits for the Cal-Nev Chapter’s Carson Pass project is in January when Cookie Ballou ready for production. Materials for the second exhibit are being gathered. transferred to Big Bend National t Five new exhibits will be sent to production shortly for the Great Platte Park in sunny southern Texas. A River Road Archway Monument’s Great Plains Cultural Learning Trail. new interpretive specialist will be hired soon. Research: t Cooperative agreements with three state historic preservation offices Our staff has increased to include are being developed to nominate dozens of trail properties in , four new faces: Mike Elliott, Cultural Kansas, and Oregon to the National Register of Historic Places. OCTA Resource Specialist; Gretchen Ward, subject matter experts will be consulted in the selection and identification Outdoor Recreation Planner; Lynne of properties. Mager, Interpretive Specialist; and t A third field season of archeological surveying and testing was completed at with Central College and the Lander Field Office Brian Deaton, GIS Technician. of the Bureau of Land Management.

Highway Signs: CCSP Projects for 2011 t Initial planning is underway for LTR highway signs in southeast Idaho for the Fort Bridger to Fort Hall trail segment. President Obama’s budget proposal t Auto Tour Route and Local Tour Route highway signs are being installed for 2011 did not include funding for by Nevada DOT along the Pony Express NHT and will include California CCSP. There are no new projects. highways along the Walker River-Sonora Route from Silver Springs to Fort Churchill. Trail Exhibit Highlights More Projects Near You

Great Plains Cultural Learning Trail Oregon - California - Pony Express - Great Road Archway Archway Monument Connect Trails to Parks American Bison Area and Mormon Pioneer National Park Service National Historic Trails U.S. Department of the Interior Kearney, NE “Let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffalo is exterminated, as it is the only way to bring lasting peace and allow civilization to advance.” Fate Of The American Bison — General Connect Trails to Parks is a competitive

Bison and Prairie Relationship s emigrants in covered wagons pushed west along the Platte buffalo for their survival, became increasingly resentful of the It turns out the prairie needs the bison as much as the bison need Archway Monument took the grant program run by the NPS that ARiver many experienced their first encounter with the slaughter and demise of their food supply at the hands of the the prairie. The sharp hooves of the bison dig into the prairie soil, great migrating herds of shaggy buffalo — properly named the white man. Their mounting desperation was a leading factor allowing both water and air to seep deeper into the sod. Fire, a American Bison. Excited travelers often saw their first buffalo inciting the Plains Indian Wars between the late 1850s and the common visitor to the grasslands, is unable to permanently damage advice of NPS interpretive staff to offers funding for a broad range of near here. Some immediately halted their wagons and rushed off early 1870s. Ultimately, Plains Indian tribes were forced by grasses that have deep, well-developed root systems. on a hunt. Others reported having to wait up to half a day for the encroachments and starvation to surrender their independence immense buffalo herds to clear the trail. and settle on reservations — forever altering the lifestyle and After a fire, the grasses send out new shoots, design a series of vignettes to tell culture of the American Indian people. which encourage the bison to return to the possible projects from traditional Over a period of several decades in the mid-1800s, the once area to graze. Desiring to keep the prairie, enormous herds were reduced to only a few hundred animals. By 1887, only 541 bison remained in the , with and thus the buffalo herds healthy, Native interpretive stories alongside I-80. In the 1850s and ‘60s, Easterners and Europeans generated an several hundred of those protected within Yellowstone National Americans in the 1800s often set portions of waysides and interpretive programs to intense demand for buffalo robes using them as trendy coats Park. Today, living on the prairie on fire, in order to encourage the and lap blankets when riding in sleighs and carriages. Industrial preserves and ranches, natural cycle of re-growth. Since the fresh The Great Plains Cultural Learning manufacturers also found buffalo hides useful as drive belts on the American bison growth of the grasses attracted the buffalo, the their machinery. The railroads and military hired buffalo hunters numbers have burn site was an obvious location to hunt. innovative educational and outreach to provide meat for work crews and soldiers and millions were rebounded to about Trail offers six exhibits about the indiscriminately killed for sport and trophies. 200,000 animals. When the American Indians were no longer on the Plains to set fires, woodlands began encroaching. Over-hunting removed programs. Trailhead access and facility Bison, once numbering as many as 60 million across the Great the bison, a keystone species of the prairie, and the introduction prairie. Plains and much of North America, were critically important of cattle, which preferred different plants, further changed the

to Plains Indian nations. Many tribes, depending heavily on the “Shooting Buffalo From the Train.” Frank Leslie’s grassland ecosystem. Within a matter of decades, both the tall and Illustrated Newspaper — June 1871. Courtesy Library of short-grass prairies were in steep decline. upgrades are also eligible, as are Congress

42” x 24” | March 2011 | 100% of Actual Size | Archway Monument / OREG NHT | Wayside Exhibit 2 special events, when jointly planned and designed to attract new visitors to trails and parks. Caples Lake California National Historic Trail California-Nevada Chapter Carson Route — West Pass National Trails System Oregon-California Trails Association El dorado National Forest Caples Lake National Park Service “Continuing down the little mountain stream which we camped on last night we again reached Lake Valley a little before noon; (Caples Lake) . . . In a few miles we descended Carson Route, CA into a small valley through which runs a small stream; (Emigrant Valley) following this to its head, we faced another ‘Elephant’; doubling teams again we ascended an other Projects must have a connection high range of mountains. The summit of this range is said to be higher than the divide we passed yesterday. We walked over snow today supposed to be 40 feet deep, and have lain there for centuries. . .” — Journal of P.C. Tiffany, Sunday, August 19, 1849 The California-Nevada Chapter between the Oregon or California uring the many travelers said going to California feet higher than 7,300 foot located 50 miles to the Dwas “Going to See the Elephant.” The term predated the north. It was the highest pass crossed by wagons in the United gold rush and to most people it meant — a great adventure, the States until the Sonora Route was opened in 1852. Its summit is experience of a lifetime, or a monumental undertaking. Packing just over 10,000 feet. However, it was used for only two summers of OCTA asked for technical National Historic Trails and a federal all your belongings and heading into the wilderness in a covered and then abandoned. wagon was surely the essence of “Going to See the Elephant.” As the wagon trains were approaching the Sierra they knew that Nearing the end of a long five month journey the tired and there were two summits — Carson Pass, or “First Summit,” just assistance to develop seven land entity. Projects on BLM or USFS weary travelers faced the arduous task of crossing the Sierra four trail miles east of here, at 8,600 feet elevation and West Pass, Nevada. For many this mountain or “Second Summit.” The pioneers also knew that they were just a range represented the week or so from their California destination. interpretive exhibits along the “Elephant.” From Elephant Back Mountain, to the left of the tall trees, can be seen on the skyline of this photograph. It is three miles northeast of the West Pass lands may be eligible. Contact our this location look With Carson Pass and West Pass being so much higher Summit. to the east to than Donner Pass, why would the 49ers choose this see a rounded route? There were several reasons; first it was the Carson Route of the California NHT. mountain most direct and shortest route to the goldfields office with your ideas to learn more. named during the early years of the gold rush. Second, Elephant Back it was easier in terms of river crossings. In the Mountain. Canyon below Donner Pass the The chapter funded the fabrication pioneers would have to cross the Truckee 27 times Looking up at or more. In the Carson Canyon only three river the Sierra crest, crossings were required. Next was the ever present of all seven exhibits. This exhibit is south of Elephant reminder of the Donner tragedy in 1846 and many did not Back at an elevation of want to run the risk of falling to the same fate as the Donner’s. 9,600 feet, is West Pass. This Highway Sign Projects pass is over two thousand “Pass in the of California” John C. West Pass is located along the skyline just below the pointer in this Fremont’s Report to the Senate of the United States, 1845 sixth in the series. picture. Photograph is courtesy of Frank Tortorich, .

42” x 24” | February 2011 | 100% of Actual Size | Carson Route / CALI | Wayside Exhibit 6 New local tour route highway signs are being planned for Elko County

Utah West Desert Pony Express National National Pony Express Association Simpson Springs Station Historic Trail Bureau of Land Management (Nevada), Sublette, Lincoln, and Uinta National Trails System National Park Service Utah West Desert U.S. Department of the Interior

“The worst imps of Satan in the business. The only way I could master Simpson Springs, UT Counties (Wyoming), Caribou County them was to throw them and get a rope around each foot and stake them out, and have a man on the head and another on the body while I Strength And Endurance trimmed the feet and nailed the shoes on . . . It generally took half a day to shoe one of them.” — Pony Express Farrier and Station Keeper, Levi Hensel, in 1901 (Idaho), and Summit and Salt Lake describing his experience shoeing half-wild California Mustangs at Seneca, Kansas. The first phase of an 11 exhibit escriptions of the variety and number of horses used by the So, just how far and how long can a horse run? A modern-day Counties (Utah). DPony Express changed throughout history. In general, the horse in good shape, can travel at a full gallop on flat terrain for type of horse used depended greatly on the region. The more maybe five to eight miles and over the mountainous terrain fleet-footed thoroughbred horses worked fine on the central in the Sierra-Nevada, a horse may be able to cover five project was completed in 2006 when prairies, but the strength and endurance of half-broken mustangs miles. Pony Express mustangs could travel at speeds were needed to cross the arid deserts and rugged mountain ranges of about ten miles an hour, but at times could of the west. Alexander Majors, one of the three founders of the gallop at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. At Central Overland California and Pike’s Peak Express Company’s a full gallop, the distance that the horse could four exhibits were designed and Pony Express, described the mustang “as alert and energetic as travel before becoming exhausted depended Ongoing Projects their riders.” on several variables — if it was a hot or cool day, his health, and when he last had a drink installed in partnership between NPS, At each of the more than one-hundred stations spread along the of water. route, relays of horses needed to be kept in sufficient numbers to meet the demands of the relay system. As the COC&PPEC A good pony express rider rode his horse at a prepared for the “start-up” of the Pony Express, the company steady sprint and generally galloped the horse BLM, and the National Pony Express estimated that it would take approximately 75 horses to make the only to get out of harm’s way. None were easy nearly tw0-thousand mile trip from Missouri to California. to ride, but all agreed that in a race for life and mounted on a half-broken mustang, the express - Lander Trail, Wyoming exhibits A little more than two months before the first riders left from rider could leave danger far behind. Association’s Utah Chapter. Four St. Joseph and Sacramento, Russell, Majors, and Waddell began purchasing 400 to 500 of the best horses available — paying as much as $200 a head for some stock. One ad, posted in the more will be installed this summer. - McCoy Park, Missouri exhibits Ksansas Leavenworth Daily Times, asked for “200 grey mares, None were easy to ride, but in a race for life the Pony Express rider mounted on a half- from four to seven years old, not to exceed fifteen hands high, well broken mustang could leave danger far behind. Photograph — D.B. Young, Wild mustangs near broke to the saddle and warranted sound…” Simpson Springs Pony Express Station, January 2010. The final three will be produced by - National Frontier Trails Museum,

42” x 24” | March 2011 | 100% of Actual Size | Utah West Desert / POEX NHT | Wayside Exhibit 6 the end of 2011. Missouri audio guides - Research report on the experience of African Americans on the emigrant trails Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide Series - Implementation of the Long- Range Interpretive Plan Through congressional funding obtained by the Partnership for the National Trails System, six of the nine interpretive guide series have been developed for the four northern national historic trails. These include guides for: National Trails Intermountain Region

The National Park Service cares for the 1. Northwestern Missouri and Northeastern Kansas special places saved by the American people 2. so that all may experience our heritage. 3. Nebraska and Northeastern Colorado 4. Wyoming Comments? Contact:

5. Idaho Chuck Milliken 6. Utah Interpretive Specialist National Trails Intermountain Region A seventh Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide for Nevada is currently being 324 South State Street, Ste. 200 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 drafted. Our office anticipates beginning the layout and design work later this [email protected] summer, and printing by year’s end. NPS 03/2011