California Trail: Difference between revisions

The '''California Trail''' went from western [[Missouri, United States Genealogy|Missouri]] across the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plains Great Plains] into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains Rocky Mountains] to the gold fields of northern [[California Genealogy|California]]. It was most heavily used in the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. The length of the wagon trail from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River Missouri River] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California Sacramento, California] was about 1,950 miles (3,138 km). It normally took four to six months to traverse the length of the California Trail with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covered_wagon covered wagons] pulled by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox oxen]. About 250,000 pioneers, the most of any American [[US Migration Trails and Roads|emigration trail]], used it to reach California before the [[First Transcontinental Railroad|transcontinental railroad]] in 1869.<ref name="OrTr">Wikipedia contributors, "Oregon Trail" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail (accessed 12 July 2012).</ref>  

The main California Trail overlapped the [[Oregon Trail]] from western [[Missouri, United States Genealogy|Missouri]] to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raft_River Raft River] crossing in [[Idaho Genealogy|Idaho]]. This route passed the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Rocks_National_Reserve City of Rocks, Idaho] and followed the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_River Humboldt River] in [[Nevada, United States Genealogy|Nevada]] toward California. An alternate California Trail route overlapped the [[Mormon Trail]] all the way [[Image:{{HumRivCam}}]] to [[Salt Lake City, Utah]] and then to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Rocks_National_Reserve City of Rocks] in Idaho. The trail ended at several destination places mostly in the gold fields in the mountains of northern California.<ref name="CaTr">Wikipedia contributors, "California Trail" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Trail (accessed 24 July 2011).</ref><br><br>  

'''Footpaths, wagons, and stagecoaches.''' The overland route over [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pass South Pass] was discovered by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_men fur trappers] in 1811. By the 1830s that pass was used as part of the [[Oregon Trail]]. Between 1829 and 1840 other mountain men explored possible additional routes extending through northern [[Utah, United States Genealogy|Utah]] and [[Nevada, United States Genealogy|Nevada]] toward [[California, United States Genealogy|California]]. At first these were footpaths or pack train trails. The earliest wagon road was pioneered through South Pass to a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_Rendezvous mountain man rendezvous] on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_River_%28Utah%29 Green River] in [[Wyoming, United States Genealogy|Wyoming]] in 1830. By 1836 a wagon road reached as far as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hall Fort Hall], Idaho.<ref name="OrTr" /> In 1841 and 1843 wagon trains started for [[California Genealogy|California]] but abandoned their wagons in [[Nevada, United States Genealogy|Nevada]] and went on by foot. The first overland wagon train to reach [[California, United States Genealogy|California]] arrived in 1844 by leaving the [[Oregon Trail|Oregon Trail]] after crossing the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raft_River Raft River] in [[Idaho, United States Genealogy|Idaho]]. From there they followed Nevada's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_River Humboldt River] west to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_%28U.S.%29 Sierra Nevada] mountains, up the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truckee_River Truckee River] and over [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truckee_River Donner Pass] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California Sacramento, California]. This became the most popular route, but other pioneers also came via [[Salt Lake City, Utah|Salt Lake City, Utah]] to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Rocks_National_Reserve City of Rocks]. From 1857 to 1861 the [[Butterfield Overland Mail|Butterfield Overland Mail]] stagecoach route near the Mexican border opened to Calfornia. That mail route was closed in favor of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express Pony Express] (Central Overland) route through central Nevada farther south than the Humboldt River. In time these various paths to California were followed by wagon roads, railroads, and modern highways.<ref name="CaTr" />  

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'''Decline of trail use.''' In 1855 the California Trail (and Oregon Trail) traffic declined dramatically. First, the bloom was off the California gold rush. Second, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Railroad Panama Railroad] was completed with steamship links that made transportation from the east coast to the west coast of America more practical than using an overland wagon trail.<ref name="OrTr" /> From 1857 to 1861 the [[Butterfield Overland Mail]] stagecoach route took some traffic from the California Trail. In 1869 the [[First Transcontinental Railroad|transcontinental]] [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] and [[Central Pacific Railroad|Central Pacific]] railroads completed to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California Sacramento, California] made that route faster, safer, and less expensive than traveling the California Trail.<ref name="CaTr" />

The California Trail was miles wide with many variations. Emigrants started on their journey from many sundry "jumping off points" in three states. Some took a variety of shortcuts, and others traveled on different sides of the rivers from other emigrants. Travelers often completed their journey in [[Idaho, United States Genealogy|Idaho]], [[Nevada, United States Genealogy|Nevada]] or places other than northern California. The California Trail was a branch of the Oregon trunk trail.<ref name="OrTr" />  

:*[http://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvisit/auto_ca.htm Auto Tour Route - '''California''']

Pioneers who used the California Trail were mostly Americans from the Midwest or Mid-South. Most settled in [[California, United States Genealogy|California]]. A few moved on to [[Oregon, United States Genealogy|Oregon]]. A few may have settled along the trail before reaching California.  

Some California Trail pioneers also settled in [[Oregon, United States Genealogy|Oregon]], [[Nevada, United States Genealogy|Nevada]], or [[Idaho, United States Genealogy|Idaho]]. Local histories and biographies from those places may also include some pioneers who traveled the California Trail.  

*Many of the [[:Category:US Migration Trails and Roads|US Migration Trails and Roads]]  

*"California Trail" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Trail (accessed 1 August 2011). History and relatively detailed list of sites along the trail with some images.  

*"Emigrant trail" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigrant_trail (accessed 15 July 2011). Includes description of trails in general, and partial map.

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{{reflist}}</div>{{California|California}} {{Idaho|Idaho}} {{Iowa|Iowa}} {{Kansas|Kansas}} {{Missouri|Missouri}} {{Nebraska|Nebraska}} {{Nevada|Nevada}} {{Oregon|Oregon}} {{Utah|Utah}} {{Wyoming|Wyoming}}  

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[[Category:US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads]] [[Category:California Migration Routes]] [[Category:Idaho Migration Routes]] [[Category:Iowa Migration Routes]] [[Category:Kansas Migration Routes]] [[Category:Missouri Migration Routes]] [[Category:Nebraska Migration Routes]] [[Category:Nevada Migration Routes]] [[Category:Oregon Migration Routes]] [[Category:Utah Migration Routes]] [[Category:Wyoming Migration Routes]]