Volume: 59 Number: 3 Year: 2007 Chronicle: 215 Article: Across the Sierra Nevada Mountains by Snow - shoe Author(s): Floyd Risvold, Richard C. Frajola Table Of Contents items marked with * cannot be viewed as an individual PDF document Click here to view the entire Volume: 59 No: 3 Chronicle: 215 Starting Page Front Cover (1 page) Front Cover Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Nutmeg Stamp Sales, Inc. Inside Front Cover Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Shreves Philatelic Galleries, Inc. 169 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Spink 170 Masthead (1 page) 171 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Matthew Bennett Inc. 172 Table of Contents (1 page) 173 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Jack E. Molesworth, Inc. 174 The Editor's Page In This Issue (1 page) 175 Michael Laurence Prestamp and Stampless Period Due Mail from Civil War Soldiers (10 pages) 176 James W. Milgram M.D. Carriers and Independent Mails Wells & Co. Letter Express: Railroad Transit in Michigan (8 pages) 186 Cary E. Johnson School Stamps: a New Learning Curve (3 pages) 193 Gordon Stimmell Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Alan E. Cohen 195 1847 Period Mobile, Alabama: 10-cent 1847 Covers Used Domestically (3 pages) 196 Van Koppersmith 1851-61 Period Very Unusual Postmark of Orfordville, N.H. (2 pages) 199 Hubert C. Skinner Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Antonio M. Torres 200 The Western Mails Across the Sierra Nevada Mountains by Snow - shoe (11 pages) 201 Floyd Risvold, Richard C. Frajola 1861-1869 Period The 3¢ 1861 Used as a Revenue Stamp (4 pages) 212 Michael C. McClung 1869 Period Interpreting Rate Markings on Covers to France During the Phantom Rate Period (8 pages) 216 Scott R. Trepel Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Leonard H. 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Firby 254 Index to Advertisers (1 page) 255 Classified (1 page) 255 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: H.R. Harmer, Inc. 256 Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Schuyler Rumsey Philatelic Auctions Inside Back Cover Display Advertisement (1 page) Advertiser: Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. Back Cover THE WESTERN MAILS STEVEN C. WALSKE , EDITOR ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS BY SNOW-SHOE FLOYD RISVOLD and RICHARD FRAJOLA A previous articl e' told the story ofthree express operators who carr ied mail on skis, commonly referred to as "Norwegian snow-shoe s," across the Gibsonville Ridge between Downieville and La Porte, California, in the mid 1860 's. Thi s article will exa mine the cov­ ers carried by their more famous predecessor, "S nowshoe" Thompson, in the period before 1860 . Born in Norway, Jon Thorsen Rue became famous as "S nows hoe Thompson." His life and exploits have been extensively documented.' Thompson arrived in the United States in 1837 and hejoined a Wisconsin co mpany that traveled to EIDorado County, California, in 1851. His mail carrying activities during the 1850's will be doc umen ted here. Later, be­ tween 1870 and 1874, he served as a government co ntrac t mail carrier on the route between Silver Mountain and Ge noa, Nevada, before passing away in 1876. Th is article will attempt to unra vel the various mail-h andl ing activities of Snows hoe Thompson in the context ofthe changing mail contracts that were in place durin g the 1850s. This is important because Thompson acted as an independent private express as well as a sub-contractor to George Chorpenning. Chorpenning used Thompson to handl e mail on a section of his overland mail route between Salt Lake City and California during at least two winter seasons and also as a sub-contractor for the branch-line government mails that served Carson Valley, Utah Territory (Ge noa, Nevada) during the period when the area was not on the overland route. The Chorpenning overland mail routes The map in Figure I shows the principal Chorpe nning routes between Salt Lake City and San Francisco during the 1850 's. Although Snows hoe Thompso n operated primarily on the seg ment between Genoa to Placerville, an understanding of the larger scope of the various routes in use is helpful. Some background is also necessary. In 1851, Absalom Woodward and Georg e Chorpenning were awa rded the contract for a monthly mail service connecting California and Salt Lake City. The eastbound service comm enced from Sacra mento on May I, 1851. A fter difficult y cros sing the snow-laden Si­ erra Nevada Mountains, Chorpenning arrived in the Cars on valley and established a station that later became the town ofGenoa . The official name ofthe post office , established in the town ofGenoa on December 10, 1852, but serving the surrounding area, was Carson Valley, I Floyd Risvold and James Blaine, "Across the Gibsonvi lle Ridge by Snow Shoe Express ," Chronicle 2 13 (February 200 7), pp. 7 1-76 . z The two most useful summaries are :"Snowshoe Thompson: Fact and Legend " by Kenne th Bjork in Norweg ian­ Amer ican Stud ies and Reco rds XIX ( 1956), pp. 62-6 8; and " Demythologizing A Ma il Hero: Snowshow Thom pson, 1827-1876," by E. John B. Allen in Postal History Journal, No. 63, February 1983, pp. 20-24. For an excellent ove rview of the early history ofskiing in the Sierra Nevada Mo untains, from the same auth or. see From Skisport To Sk iing, One Hundred Years of an American Sport, 1840- 1940. Chronicle 2 15 / Augus t 2007 / Vol. 59, No .3 20 1 Utah Territory. In 1863 the post office name was change d to Genoa, Nevada Territory. After setting up the station at Genoa, Woodward and Chorpenning continued on with the mail (I 85 1- 1854 route on map), arriving at Salt Lake City on June 5, 185 I. Later that same year Woodward was killed by Indians. Chorpenning carried out the remaini ng mail contract without a partner. The 1851-1852 win- ter mails presented additional problems for Chorpenning. The east bound December and January mails for Salt Lake City were taken back to Sac­ ramento because of snow.The February mails finally made it across the mountains after be­ ~ ing packed across Beckworth I San Francisco . -" -, I t · <, Pass much further north of the \ , ~ ." ., ,1 II- \. -, ~ '1' ~ ', . " -..., route to Carson Valley. After ~ ~ \ " this, Chorpe nning received per­ . - •. + mission from the San Francisco [0,- _../':1"J _ - '\• I~ -=- - \ postma ster to send the March iY.fKI.tlliJ. ' .. ~; , mails by steamer to San Pedro _I.. ._"'~''' HT ", IIU"",.,,;,"'I " and thence by the Old Spanish .. ~, ;'" ' ... ;... .. _- --- Trail to Salt Lake City. Summer 1852 mails were again carried on the original route, via Pla­ Figure 1. The Chorpenning routes between Salt Lake cerville and Genoa. City and San Francisco. When the winter season of 1852 arrived, Chorpenning reverted again to the Old Spanish Trail Route to fulfill his overland mail contract , utiliz­ ing steamer serv ice between San Francisco and San Pedro. Also, Chorpenning provided a branch-line mail service between Placerville and the Carson Valley post office. It is re­ ported that Fred Bishop and "Daddy" Dritt were the first carr iers of this branch mail and that in the spring of 1853 they performed the service between Placerville and Genoa utiliz­ ing Canadian style snow-shoes rather than skis over the pass.' Chorpenning employed the same system ofsummer mails by the orig inal route and winter mails via San Pedro during the following year. In July, 1854, Chorpenning secured a new four-year contract for the monthly overland mail service. A route change for both summer and winter mails was approved and the new termini were Salt Lake City and San Diego. By using the Old Spani sh Trail, Chorpen­ ning was relieved of the additional expense of the ocean link between San Pedro and San Francisco. Apparently Chorpenning retained the post office contract for the branch route between Placerville and Carson Valley. In the winte r of 1854-1 855, express and probably mail service was provided, although the contractor's name is not known. It is possible that George Pierce succeeded Bishop and Dritt, who had provided service using snow shoes in 1852- 1853. Another possibility is that Jack C. Johnson, who is also known to have preceded Thompson, and who is credited with opening the route calle d Johnson 's Pass, did service on the route . These individuals are mentioned in the Appendix to Chorpenning's Petition to Congress (1889) and it would J LeRoy R. Hafen, The Over/and Mail, pg. 65 and Bjork, op cit. 202 Chronicle 215 / August 2007 / Vol. 59, No.3 be logical to assum e that Chorpenning had sub-contracted these indi viduals to provide the branch-line mail service. An example of an eastbound cover ca rried by Chorpenning on the Old Spanish Trail route to San Diego, and thenc e by stea me r to Panama, is shown in Figure 2.Sent in the winter of 1855-1 856, this cover from Sa lt Lake City to New Jersey is endorsed "Via Cali­ fornia" and was franked at an unofficial nine-cent rate.