Main route of California Trail (thick red line), including Applegate-Lassen and Beckwourth variations (thinner red lines)

The California Trail was a major overland emigrant route across the Western United States from Missouri to California in the middle 19th century. It was used by 250,000 farmers and gold-seekers to reach the California gold fields and farm homesteads in California from the early 1840s until the introduction of the railroads in the late 1860s. The original route had many branches and encompassed over 5,000 miles (8000 km) of trails. Over 1,000 miles (1600 km) of the rutted traces of the trail remain throughout the Great Basin as historical evidence of the great mass migration westward. Portions of the trail are now preserved by the National Park Service as the California National Historical Trail. Image File history File links Wpdms_california_trail3. ... Emigration is the action and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country to settle abroad. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began shortly after January 24, 1848 (when gold was discovered at Sutters Mill in Coloma). ... // First use of general anesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long The first electrical telegraph sent by Samuel Morse on May 24, 1844 from Baltimore to Washington, D.C.. First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi, Northland New Zealand. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... // The First Transcontinental Railroad in the USA was built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ... Drainage map showing the Great Basin in orange Various Definitions of the Great Basin (NPS) Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park, Nevada. ... The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. ...

Description

The exact route of the trail depended on the starting point of the voyage, the final destination in California, as well as the condition of livestock and vehicles. The main branch of the trail across the Great Plains was identical to the Oregon and Mormon trails, going up the Missouri River then crossing Nebraska along the Platte and North Platte to present-day Wyoming. The trail then followed the Sweetwater River across Wyoming, crossing the continental divide at South Pass (where it diverged from the Mormon Trail). From South Pass it went northwest to Fort Hall in the Oregon Country in present-day southeastern Idaho along the Snake River. For other uses, see Great Plains (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Oregon Trail (disambiguation). ... The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846-1857. ... The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Largest metro area Omaha Area  Ranked 16th  - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 0. ... The Platte River, showing the North Platte and South Platte The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 310 mi. ... The North Platte River The North Platte River is a tributary of the Platte River, approximately 680 mi (1,094 km) long, in the U.S. states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  Ranked 10th  - Total 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²)  - Width 280 miles (450 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 0. ... The Sweetwater River The Sweetwater River is a tributary of the North Platte River, approximately 150 mi (241 km) long, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. ... A continental divide is a line of elevated terrain which forms a border between two watersheds such that water falling on one side of the line eventually travels to one ocean or body of water, and water on the other side travels to another, generally on the opposite side of... South Pass (elevation 7550 ft) is a mountain pass on the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Wyoming. ... Fort Hall Fort Hall in the United States was a 19th century outpost in the eastern Oregon Country. ... Landscape in Oregon Country, by Charles Marion Russell Map of Oregon Country Oregon Country was a region of western North America that originally consisted of the land north of 42°N latitude, south of 54°40N latitude, and west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. ... For other uses, see Idaho (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Snake River (disambiguation). ...

West of Fort Hall (near present day Pocatello, Idaho) at the junction of the Raft River and Snake River, the trail diverged from the Oregon Trail. The trail followed the Raft river southwest to near present day Almo, Idaho. It then passed through the City of Rocks and over Granite Pass where it followed southwest along Goose Creek, Little Goose Creek, and Rock Spring Creek. It passed through Thousand Springs Valley, and then along West Brush Creek to Willow Creek, then to the headwaters of the Humboldt River in present-day northeastern Nevada. The trail followed the north bank of the Humboldt across Nevada, passing through the narrow Carlin Canyon, which became nearly impassable during periods of high water. West of Carlin Canyon the trail climbed through Emigrant Gap then descended through Emigrant Canyon to rejoin the Humboldt at Gravelly Ford. At Gravelly Ford the trail divided into two branches, following the north and south banks of the river. The two branches rejoined at Humboldt Bar. Nickname: Motto: Gateway to the Northwest Location in Bannock County and the state of Idaho Coordinates: , Country State Counties Bannock, Power Government  - Mayor Roger W. Chase Area  - City 28. ... The Raft River is a river that flows from Utah to Idaho. ... Almo is a very small unincorporated town in Cassia County, Idaho, United States. ... City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho State. ... The Humboldt River runs through northern Nevada in the western United States. ...

At the Humboldt Sink the trail again diverged, with the Truckee River Route proceeding west across the Forty Mile Desert and reaching the Truckee River at the site of modern-day Wadsworth, Nevada. This trail then followed the Truckee River to Donner Lake, crossed the Sierra crest through Donner Pass, and then proceeded down the Sierra through Emigrant Gap. The Humboldt Sink is an intermittent dry lake bed, approximately 11 mi (18 km) and 4 mi (6 km) across, in northwestern Nevada in the United States. ... The Truckee River is a river 140 mi (225 km) long in northern California and northern Nevada in the United States. ... Wadsworth is a census-designated place located in Washoe County, Nevada. ... Donner Lake is a freshwater lake quite smaller than nearby Lake Tahoe. ... Donner Pass (el. ... Emigrant Gap or Emigrant Pass is a place on the California Trail where it crosses the Sierra Nevada (US) (mountain range), on the western side of what is now known as Donner Pass. ...

The Carson Trail (also known as the Carson River Route) proceeded south through the Forty Mile Desert, skirting the western edge of the Carson Sink and striking the Carson River near modern-day Fallon, Nevada. The trail then followed the Carson River and crossed the Sierra Crest through Carson Pass. Both trails ended up at Sutter's Fort, which is located in modern-day Sacramento, California. The Carson Sink is a large playa, approximately 300 sq mi (780 km²) in area, in the Lahontan Valley of northwestern Nevada. ... The Carson River is a river in northern California and northwestern Nevada in the United States, approximately 150 mi (241 km) long. ... Corn Field in Fallon, NV August 2004. ... Kit Carson Pass, named after the famed explorer Kit Carson, is a mountain pass through the Sierra Nevada range in Alpine County, California. ... 19th century illustration of Sutters Fort Started in 1839, Sutters Fort, which was originally called New Helvetia[1] (New Switzerland) by its builder, John Sutter, was a 19th century agricultural and trading colony in California. ... Sacramento redirects here. ...

The Beckwourth Trail (also known as the Beckwourth Cutoff) left the Truckee River Route at Truckee Meadows (now the site of Sparks, Nevada), proceeded north to Beckwourth Pass, and then west through Plumas, Butte and Yuba counties into California's great central valley terminating at Marysville, California. The Truckee Meadows is the area of Northern Nevada which encompasses the Truckee River and nearby valleys in Nevada. ... Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. ... Beckwourth Pass (el. ... Marysville is the home of many great people namely Courtney Weaver county seat of Yuba County, California, USA. The population was 12,268 at the 2000 census. ...

The Applegate-Lassen Cutoff left the California Trail near the modern-day Rye Patch Reservoir, and passed through the Black Rock Desert and High Rock Canyon to Goose Lake. There the trails split, with the Lassen Cutoff proceeding south into the Sacramento Valley along the Pit River; the Applegate Trail proceeded west into southeastern Oregon along the Lost River, and eventually up into Oregon's Willamette Valley, by following the track of the Siskiyou Trail from south-central Oregon to Portland, Oregon. Rye Patch State Recreation Area is a state recreation area in Nevada. ... The Black Rock Desert is a dry lake bed in northwestern Nevada in the United States. ... Goose Lake is a large alkaline lake on the California-Oregon border. ... Peter Lassen was a Danish-American blacksmith, rancher and prospector. ... The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta. ... The Pit River is a tributary of the Sacramento River, approximately 110 mi (176 km) long, in northeastern California in the United States. ... The Applegate Trail was a north-south wilderness trail through Oregon Territory. ... Lost River The Lost River is a river in northern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States, approximately 70 mi (113 km) long. ... The Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley is the region in northwest Oregon in the United States that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its emergence from mountains near Eugene to its confluence with the Columbia River. ... The Siskiyou Trail stretched from Californias Central Valley to Oregons Willamette Valley; modern-day Interstate 5 follows this pioneer path. ... Portland skyline. ...

History

John Bidwell

The area of the Great Basin through which the trail had passed had been only partially explored during the days of Spanish and Mexican rule. In 1828-29 Peter Skene Ogden, leading expeditions for the Hudson's Bay Company, explored much of the Humboldt River Valley. In 1834 Benjamin Bonneville, a United States Army officer on leave to pursue an expedition to the west financed by John Jacob Astor, sent Joseph Walker westward from the Green River in present-day Wyoming with the mission of finding a route to California. Walker confirmed that the Humboldt River furnished a natural artery across the Great Basin. John Bidwell This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Peter Skene Ogden, alternately Skeene, Skein or Skeen (baptised 12 February 1790 – September 27, 1854) was a Canadian explorer of the American West. ... Hudsons Bay Company (HBC; Compagnie de la Baie dHudson in French) is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. ... Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Benjamin Bonneville Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (April 14, 1796-1878) was a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper, and explorer in the American West. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... John Jacob Astor, detail of an oil painting by Gilbert Stuart, 1794 John Jacob (originally either Johann Jakob or Johann Jacob) Astor (July 17, 1763 - March 29, 1848) was the first of the Astor family dynasty and the first millionaire in the United States, the creator of the first Trust... The Green River, a tributary of the Colorado, is shown highlighted on a map of the western United States. ...

Throughout the 1840s the trail began to be used sporadically by early settlers. The first recorded emigrant to use the trail was John Bidwell, who led the 1841 Bidwell-Bartleson Party and later founded Chico in the Sacramento Valley. Two years later in 1843, Joseph Chiles followed the same route. In 1844, Caleb Greenwood and the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party became the first settlers to take wagons over the Sierra Nevada. In 1845, John C. Frémont and Lansford Hastings guided parties totaling several hundred settlers along the trail to California. The following year Hastings persuaded another party of emigrants to follow his "shortcut" that ran to the south of the main route. One such, the Donner Party, became the most infamous group of emigrants to follow the mountainous trail through the rough terrain later named Hastings Cutoff. // First use of general anesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long The first electrical telegraph sent by Samuel Morse on May 24, 1844 from Baltimore to Washington, D.C.. First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi, Northland New Zealand. ... John Bidwell John Bidwell (August 5, 1819- April 4, 1900) was known throughout California and across the nation as an important pioneer, farmer, soldier, statesman, politician and philanthropist. ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: Location of Chico in California Coordinates: , Country State County Butte Settled 1843 Founded 1860 Incorporated January 8, 1872 Government  - Mayor Andrew Holcombe  - City Council Scott Gruendl Steve Bertagna Larry Wahl Ann Schwab Mary Flynn Tom Nickell  - City Manager Area  - Total 27. ... The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta. ... Year 1843 (MDCCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Jan. ... Old Caleb Greenwood was a Western U.S. fur trapper and trail guide. ... The Stephens-Townsend-Muphy Party party was a well organized party consisting of ten families who were seeking a better future for themselves in California. ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813 – July 13, 1890), was an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery. ... Lansford Hastings Lansford Warren Hastings (circa 1819 – 1870) is best remembered as the developer of Hastings Cutoff, a shortcut across what is now the state of Utah which was a factor in the Donner Party disaster of 1846. ... The Donner Party Memorial at Donner Memorial State Park. ... Route of the California Trail and Hastings Cutoff in the western United States The Hastings Cutoff was an alternate route for emigrants to travel to California, as proposed by Lansford Hastings. ...

The trickle of emigrants would become a flood after the discovery of gold in California in 1848, the same year that the U.S. acquired the Southwest in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Within several months of the public announcement of the discovery by President Polk in late 1848, tens of thousands of gold seekers headed westward into California to seek their fortunes during the California Gold Rush. GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... Year 1848 (MDCCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Mexican Cession (red) and the Gadsden Purchase (orange). ... James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795–June 15, 1849) was the eleventh President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1845 to March 4, 1849. ... Year 1848 (MDCCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began shortly after January 24, 1848 (when gold was discovered at Sutters Mill in Coloma). ...

Legacy

During pre-American Civil War "Bleeding Kansas" skirmishes between Kansas and Missouri raiders, the jumping off points for westward-bound wagon trains shifted northward. The trail branch John Fremont followed from Westport Landing to the Wakarusa Valley south of Lawrence, Kansas became regionally known as the "California Road." Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Division of the states during the Civil War:  Union states  Union territories  Border states  Bleeding Kansas  The Confederacy  Confederate territories (not always held) Bleeding Kansas, sometimes referred to in history as Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a sequence of violent events involving Free-Staters (anti-slavery) and pro... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813-July 13, 1890), birth name John Charles Fremon [Harvey, p. ... Kansas City Pioneer Square monument in Westport features Pony Express founder Alexander Majors, Westport/Kansas City founder John Calvin McCoy and Mountainman Jim Bridger who owned Chouteaus Store next to Kellys Kellys at 500 Westport Road or neighboring Chouteaus Store at 504 Westport are considered to... The Wakarusa River is a tributary of the Kansas River, approximately 50 mi (80 km) long, in eastern Kansas in the United States. ... Lawrence is a river city in and the seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, 41 miles (66 km) west of Kansas City, along the banks of both the Kansas (Kaw) and Wakarusa Rivers. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Part of the route of the trail across Nevada was used for the Central Pacific portion of the first transcontinental railroad. In the 20th century, the route was used for modern highways, in particular U.S. Highway 40 and later Interstate 80. Ruts from the wagon wheels and names of emigrants, written with axle grease on rocks, can still be seen in the City of Rocks National Reserve in southern Idaho. The Gov. ... Poster announcing railroads opening The First Transcontinental Railroad was a transcontinental railroad in North America that was finished in 1869. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... United States Highway 40 is an east-west United States highway. ... Interstate 80 (abbreviated I-80) is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States. ... City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho State. ...

See also

• Landmarks of the Nebraska Territory
• Oregon-California Trails Association
• Beckwourth Pass

Landmarks of the Nebraska Territory were important to settlers on the Oregon, California and Mormon trails. ... The Oregon-California Trails Association is an interdisciplinary organization based at Independence, Missouri, United States. ... Beckwourth Pass (el. ...

External links

• NPS: California National Historical Trail
• Detailed history of the Humboldt River Valley (PDF)
• A Journey to Great-Salt-Lake City by Jules Remy and Julius Lucius Brenchley (excerpt from an 1861 book about a trip along the trail, courtesy of Google Book Search).