The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (English: Royal Road of the Interior Land) was an historic 2,560-kilometre-long (1,590 mi) trade route between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo (Ohkay Owingeh), New Mexico, USA, from 1598 to 1882. It was the northernmost of the four major "royal roads" that linked Mexico City to its major tributaries during and after the Spanish colonial era.
The 404-mile (650 km) section of the route within the United States was proclaimed as National Historic Trail on October 13, 2000.
Brochure The Royal Road - El Camino Real for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) in New Mexico and Texas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Brochure Yost Escarpment for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) in New Mexico and Texas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Brochure Finding the Trail - Encontrando el sendero for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) in New Mexico and Texas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Brochure Walking the Ancient Road - Andando por el antiguo camino for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) in New Mexico and Texas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Brochure Stories in the Dust - Historias en el polvo for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) in New Mexico and Texas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Brochure The Dead Man of the Jornada - El Hombre Muerto de La Jornada for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) in New Mexico and Texas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Brochure Moving the Goods - Transportando las mercancías for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NHT) in New Mexico and Texas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
The National Historic Trail route across Nevada. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
https://www.nps.gov/elca/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_Real_de_Tierra_Adentro
The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (English: Royal Road of the Interior Land) was an historic 2,560-kilometre-long (1,590 mi) trade route between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo (Ohkay Owingeh), New Mexico, USA, from 1598 to 1882. It was the northernmost of the four major "royal roads" that linked Mexico City to its major tributaries during and after the Spanish colonial era.
The 404-mile (650 km) section of the route within the United States was proclaimed as National Historic Trail on October 13, 2000.
Travel along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail to experience and learn from a complicated legacy of 300 years of conflict, cooperation, and cultural exchange between a variety of empires—European and non-European alike.
You can visit many sites along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail over the 404-mile U.S. historic route (with thousands of additional miles in Mexico) that crosses New Mexico and Texas.
Kuaua Ruin in Coronado Historic Site, Bernalillo, New Mexico
tan-colored pueblo Indian ruins with blue sky and three people
The Tiwa pueblo of Kuaua lies in ruin at Coronado Historic Site. The site includes a rebuilt kiva that displays reproductions of original murals adorning its walls. Be sure to go to the visitor center where some of the original murals are displayed.
El Rancho de las Golondrinas, La Cienega, New Mexico
adobe buildings including two beehive-looking ovens with people in a courtyard
El Rancho de las Golondrinas was a historic paraje (stopping place) along El Camino Real. “The ranch of the swallows” dates from the early 1700s, and is now being used as a living history museum.
Jornada del Muerto, County Roads A013 & E070, Sierra & Doña Ana Counties, New Mexico
shrubby desert scene with people walking under a cloud-filled sky
Walk in the footsteps of settlers from the 1600s who had to walk along this dreaded yet unavoidable section of El Camino Real: Jornada del Muerto or Dead Man’s Journey.
Fort Selden Historic Site, Radium Springs, New Mexico
fort ruins in the sunlight with cottonwood trees on the left
Fort Selden was built near the town of Las Cruces in 1865 and housed troops for 25 years. The visitor center offers exhibits on frontier military life during the fort’s heyday and the grounds are self-guided.
Presidio Chapel of San Elizario, Mission Trail, El Paso, Texas
large white chapel under blue sky
Spanish troops built a presidio (fort) and chapel at this site during the 1780s to protect settlements in the lower Río Grande Valley downstream from El Paso, Texas.
The Lands of the Overland Trails: Protests against the Mexican American War
Almost every movement in American history has a corresponding counter movement. The Mexican American War (1846-48), which resulted in Mexico ceding much of the modern-day American Southwest to the United States, is a good example. With the stroke of a pen, parts of the Santa Fe, California, Oregon, Pony Express, Mormon Pioneer, and Old Spanish trails, as well as El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, suddenly became American territory.
A dirt road snakes down a steep cliff face in the desert.
Comanches and Horses
Historians often cite the importation of large horse herds as one of the Spanish empire's biggest impacts on the Americas. Ironically, these very herds helped transform Comanches into Spain's most formidable rival.
Two wild horses stand in a large open area.
Project Ideas- Communication & National Historic Trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Communication was an essential aspect of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Here are a few examples and questions to get you thinking about potential research projects.
Desert shrubs leads to a distant shallow creek and distant mountains.
The First Printing Press in New Mexico
From moveable hand-carved woodblocks in Dunhuang, China, during the Tang Dynasty of 618-906 to adjustable type developed by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, around 1450, print has played a vital role in the transfer of knowledge and ideas, communication, and the arts. It was not until July of 1834, 13 years after the establishment of the Santa Fe Trail with the beginning of legal international trade with Mexico, that the first printing press arrived in New Mexico.
A historical picture of an old printed book cover.
What Happened to the Bison?
Crossing the Southern Plains in 1806, Zebulon Pike described herds of bison that “exceeded imagination.” Yet by the 1850s, many of the Native nations that relied on bison for sustenance—such as the Kiowas, Comanches, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes—were seeing fewer bison than ever before. What happened?
A bison stands and eats grass.
The Civil War Fought Along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro NHT
Soon after the Civil War broke out, Confederate political and military leaders hatched a plan for Western conquest. They would raise a force in Texas, march up the Rio Grande (along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro), take Santa Fe, turn northeast on the Santa Fe Trail, capture the federal supplies at Fort Union, head up to Colorado, capture the gold fields, and then turn west to take California. All three states had populations loyal to the Confederacy.
A man stands in a Union Army uniform.
Hike on a National Historic Trail
Hiking a National Historic Trail isn't always what people expect. Like the National Scenic Trails, the historic trails pass through multiple states and travel across a variety of land ownership. Unlike the National Scenic Trails, the historic trails can't be traversed on one long walking trail. You can plan a weekend adventure or an afternoon outing on a National Historic Trail. The following trips will give you the opportunity to hike pieces of the historic trail routes.
A brown trail sign stands next to a trail that leads through the forest.
Series: National History Day
National Historic Trails are full of topics waiting to be researched! From the Pony Express to the forced removal of American Indian tribes from their homelands, National Historic Trails tell stories of communication, movement, conflict, perseverance, and change.
A covered wagon sits in front of a large sandstone bluff.
Become a Junior Ranger for National Historic Trails
Learn about the National Historic Trails and earn junior ranger badges! These activities can be completed virtually or after visiting a site along the National Historic Trails. Booklets can be submitted either electronically or by mail. Take a look and start exploring the trails today!
small photos of different trail sites with junior ranger badges.
Vado, New Mexico on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
In the Mesilla Valley, approximately 15 miles south of Las Cruces, New Mexico, along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, lies the community of Vado. The rich history of the small town was shaped by the efforts of Francis Marion Boyer and Ella Louise McGruder Boyer, who arrived in New Mexico from Georgia in the early 1900s and founded the first all-African American settlement in the territory.
historic image of African American adults and children in front of a schoolhouse.
National Historic Trails: Historical Routes of National Significance
Wondering about National Historic Trails? Check out this infographic with basic information about the trails, their purpose, and where you can go for more information!
Infographic about National Historic Trails featuring a map. Full description available at link.
National Historic Trails Scrapbooks
Imagine if early travelers on the National Historic Trails had a polaroid camera... what would their scrapbooks look like? Though we have many journals describing their experiences, there are obviously very few or no photos at all from these journeys. Cameras didn't exist! Well, we took a crack at it and created scrapbook pages for them! Take a look at what we imagine a trail traveler's scrapbook would like!
A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Fort Craig Exhibits Audio Description
Listen to the audio description of the Fort Craig exhibits.
A wayside exhibit panel.
National Historic Trails Fashion Inspiration
During NPS Fashion Week, we are exploring some ways fashion inspiration may be found on National Historic Trails (NHTs). On NHTs you’ll find intriguing colors, shapes, textures, histories, and stories. From golden sunsets to feathered hats, NHTs have diverse natural and cultural environments that can inspire the fashionista in us all!
A red rock cliff with a path winding through it
Indigenous Diplomacy: The Ute-Comanche Treaty of 1786
History classes are filled with treaties between colonial powers and Indigenous peoples. Yet we learn considerably less about treaties between Native nations. A 1786 agreement between Utes and Comanches, poorly documented by Spanish sources, provides an opportunity to see history from a different perspective.
A historic image of an American Indian man in traditional regalia.
Luminaria Traditions
Farolitos are practically synonymous with a New Mexican Christmas. Luminaria traditions have spread over the centuries to many of the former Spanish territories.
Conservation Diaries: Ramona Malczynski, Partnership Outreach Intern
Ramona Malczynski spent the summer traveling through Northern and Central New Mexico and meeting with many people during her time with the Latino Heritage Internship Program. During summer 2021, she worked as the Latino Historic Trails Partnership Outreach Intern at the National Trails Office of the National Park Service.
selfie of two women
The Tiwa of the Isleta Pueblo Mission
Early Spanish travelers followed an extensive network of Pueblo foot trails that entered mountain passes, followed river valleys, or crossed desert plains to life-supporting water sources. The Spanish Empire colonized New Mexico in 1598, incorporating many ancient Pueblo trails into the Spanish system of wagon roads to colonize the northern frontier. Archeologists have found many traces of it today.
Carreta wheel
Martineztown Mosaics
Mosaics installed along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro retracement walk in the Martineztown Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Martineztown Walking Tour
Stops for the walking tour at Martineztown Park in Downtown Albuquerque, along the historic El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Santa Fe Exhibits Audio Description
Interested in the three national historic trails in Santa Fe? Take a look at these interpretive exhibits and listen to their audio descriptions.
Wayside interpretive exhibit, full audio description is available.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Timeline
Interested in learn more about the history of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro? Take a look at this trail timeline!
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Junior Ranger
Interested in becoming a junior ranger? Use this information to complete your El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro junior ranger worksheet.
Major Stops and Sights Activity Martineztown
List of Parajes along El Camino Real de Tierra Adeintro for the Martineztown Walking Tour activity.
Martineztown Exhibits Audio Description
Audio descriptions and transcripts for Martineztown exhibits and waysides.
First Impressions on High Road Walkway Martineztown
Audio descriptions and transcripts of the waysides for the trail travelers of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro first impressions. These waysides are along the Martineztown walkng tour in Albuquerque.
National Trails Coloring Pages
Stretching for 28,000 miles over 26 states, the national historic trails are home to many different animals. Learn more about the trails and the animals that people encountered with these great coloring pages. This is fun for all ages, just download, print, and color!
Coloring page with outline of a deer fawn.
Reflecting on 55 years of the National Trails System Act: A Journey Through the Establishment of National Scenic and Historic Trails
In celebration of the 55th anniversary of the National Trails System Act, learn more about these significant trails and their history.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, Old Spanish Trail, Santa Fe Trail: Santa Fe, New Mexico Itinerary
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the US, founded in 1610, and the highest in elevation at 7,000 ft. The city is the historic hub of the southwest, connecting three national historic trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail. This tour leads your from the busy plaza and other major tourist locations to lesser known sites along quiet, old Santa Fe streets.
The rough trail jolted nails loose from wagons
and carriages. Hundreds of cobbler’s nails,
farrier’s nails, and upholstery nails tell the story
of El Camino Real.
Spanish ranches and
villages are established
along El Camino Real
north of Isleta Pueblo,
including Pajarito and
Atrisco, independent
communities now
within the greater
Albuquerque area.
German trader
Bernardo Gruber dies
on the Jornada del
Muerto after fleeing
jail at Sandía Pueblo
and the cruelties of the
Spanish Inquisition.
On August 10th,
nearly two dozen
pueblos and their
allies revolt over the
Spanish practices of
extracting payments,
forcing conversion
to Catholicism, and
brutally suppressing
native religion. The
Spanish flee south and
the pueblos regained
their homeland for
12 years.
1706
•
1692
•
The Spanish
return to New
Mexico and
begin rebuilding
missions and
settlements.
La Villa de
Alburquerque
is established,
with today’s “Old
Town” and plaza
as its historic
center.
o R o m e r o, R i o G r a n d e P u r
ging
,C
yR
o
Palace of the Governors
This modest, single-story adobe is
the oldest continuously occupied
governmental building in the US.
Construction began in 1610. Over the
years the palace has been converted
to an Indian Pueblo, housed Spanish
and Mexican governors, and served
as a Territorial Capitol. Since 1909
the palace has been the heart of New
Mexico’s State Museum system. The
palace sits on the north side of the
Santa Fe Plaza.
1680
•
es
Coronado Historic Site /
Kuaua Pueblo
When Francisco Vásquez de
Coronado arrived at Kuaua
Pueblo in 1540, he was leading
an expeditionary force of 300
soldiers and 800 Indian allies
on a march to locate the fabled
Seven Cities of Cibola. Instead
of the golden city they expected,
the Spanish found a thriving
multistory adobe pueblo with
more than a thousand villagers.
The Spanish capital
is relocated from San
Juan do los Caballeros
to La Villa Real de
la Santa Fe de San
Francsico de Asis
(Santa Fe).
1670
•
1739
•
The Tomé grant is
settled after the Rio
Grande shifts west,
creating an inner valley
branch of El Camino
Real through the Tomé
Plaza.
1760
•
Still a rough camp in
1760, the paraje of
Doña Ana is settled
as a town in the
1840s.
1789
•
San Elizario is
established as a
military presidio
to protect citizens
of El Paso del
Norte from
Apache attacks.
1807
•
US Lieutenant
Zebulon Pike illegally
enters Spanish
territory while
exploring the West.
Pike is captured
and taken down
El Camino Real to
Mexico City.
1821
•
Mexico gains its
independence from
Spain. The Santa Fe
Trail opens with the
arrival of William
Becknell’s trading
party from Missouri. El
Camino Real de Tierra
Adentro becomes
known as the
“Chihuahua Trail” for
traders moving goods
between Santa Fe and
towns to the south.
1846
•
Missouri
volunteers
under Colonel
Alexander W.
Doniphan defeat
a Mexican unit
at the Battle of
Bracitos, go on to
take El Paso del
Norte, and march
into Chihuahua.
1848
•
Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo establishes
American control
over about half
of Mexico’s lands,
including the lands
traversed by El
Camino Real north
of El Paso del Norte.
El Rancho de las Golondrinas
Today a living history museum
dedicated to telling New Mexico
Hispanic lifeways, this was once
an important paraje, or campsite,
on El Camino Real. About 15
miles from the Santa Fe Plaza, the
rancho offered travelers a chance
to freshen up before reaching the
capital city or to make repairs to
gear following a jolting journey on
the trail heading south.
1850
•
1853
•
New Mexico becomes
an incorporated,
organized territory of
the US on September 9.
American-Mexican
border is redefined
through the Gadsden
Purchase, which for
10 million dollars
brought nearly 19
million acres of
land between Texas
and California into
American hands.
1862
•
Battle of Valverde,
the first major
battle of the Civil
War in the South
west, takes
place north of Fort
Craig in February.
Fort Craig Historic Site
Fort Craig, active between 1854
and 1885, was home to Buffalo
Soldiers from the 9th Cavalry and
38th and 125th Infantry. Hispanic
New Mexican volunteers and militia
also served there, and Kit Carson,
Rafael Chacon, and Captain Jack
Crawford spent time there.
Fort Selden Historic Site
Fort Selden was established in 1865
to protect settlers and travelers in
the Mesilla Valley. Built on the banks
of the Rio Grande in the vicinity of
the Robledo paraje, this adobe fort
housed units of the US Army’s infantry
and cavalry. The fort remained active
until 1891, five years after Geronimo’s
capture and seven years after the
railroad had taken over El Camino
Real’s role in commercial freight and
transport.
J.R. Riddle, Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), 014523
1865
•
Fort Selden
is established
to protect
the Mesilla
Valley.
1878
•
The region’s
first operational
railroad, the
Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe Railway,
enters New Mexico
Territory by way
of Ratón Pass; the
rails reach El Paso,
Texas, in 1881.
1909
•
New Mexico
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail
New Mexico, Texas
Travel the Royal Road
The Royal Road at the Jornada del Muerto in New Mexico.
Blazed atop a network of footpaths that tied Mexico’s
ancient cultures with the equally ancient cultures of
the interior West, Don Juan de Oñate took the first
Spanish colonists in 1598 along what became “The Royal
Road of the Interior Lands.” El Camino Real de Tierra
Adentro began in Mexico City and continued to Ohkay
Owinge Pueblo, north of present-day Santa Fe, New
Mexico. As a royal road, it brought priests, solders,
traders, settlers, and officials to Spain’s northern
frontier—today’s New Mexico.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro is the earliest EuroAmerican trade route in the United States. Tying Spain’s
colonial capital at Mexico City to its northern frontier
in distant New Mexico, the route spans three centuries,
two countries, and 1,600 miles.
You can follow in their footsteps...
El Rancho de las Golondrinas, New Mexico
Places to Visit
These are only a few of
the sites that you can visit
on the trail. They represent
the variety of experiences
and activities that occured
along the historic trail
over hundreds of years
of use including Mexican
independence, American
trade, and the invasion
Socorro
of Mexico by the
US military.
Rio
Gr
an
de
Española
1
25
3
Albuquerque
4
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
5
6
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
7
8
Truth or
Consequences
Santa Fe
2
Engle
9
25
Palace of the Governors
El Rancho de las Golondrinas
Casa San Ysidro/Gutiérrez-Minge House
The Gutiérrez-Hubbell House
Tomé Hill
Bosque del Apache National
Wildlife Refuge
Fort Craig Historic Site
El Camino Real Historic Trail Site
Jornada del Muerto Trailheads
Fort Selden Historic Site
Mesilla Plaza
Chamizal National Monument
Ysleta Mission Church
La Purísima Socorro Mission
San Elizario Catholic Church
10
13
11
Nearby Town
Site of Interest
Trail Route
Las Cruces
New Mexico
El Paso
Mexico
Ciudad Juárez
Texas
12
13
14
15
To Mexico City
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic
Trail runs through the heart of the Rio Grande Valley.
Established by Congress in 2001, it is co-administered
by the Bureau of Land Management and the National
Park Service, who work with partners to foster trail
preservation and public use. Trail sites are in private,
municipal, tribal, federal or state ownership.
Bureau of Land Management
www.blm.gov/nm
National Park Service
National Trails Intermountain Region
www.nps.gov/elca
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Trail Association
www.caminorealcarta.org
Look for
signs like
these to
retrace the
Royal Road.
Scan this
code for
nps.gov/elca
Yost Escarpment and Point of Rocks ~ Panel 1A
The Royal Road
El Camino Real
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association
Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico
Royal Road of the Interior
El Camino Realde Tierra Adentr0, the “Royal Road of the Interior,”
was the earliest Euro-American trade route in the United States.
It tied Spain’s colonial capital at Mexico City to its northern frontier
in distant New Mexico. It was part of Spain’s Camino Real Inter
continental—a global network of roads and maritime routes.
The route spans three centuries, two countries, and 1,600 miles.
It was blazed atop a network of footpaths that connected Mexico’s
ancient cultures with the equally ancient cultures of the interior West.
Starting in Mexico City, the frontier wagon road brought settlers
into today’s New Mexico. Once travelers crossed the arid lands
above Ciudad Chihuahua, they followed the wide Rio Grande
valley north into New Mexico. Many of the historic parajes
(campgrounds) and early settlements created by the Spanish
colonists moving along El Camino Real are today’s modern cities
along the Rio Grande.
Freighters
i h
ffrom Mexico
i arrive
i at the
h Santa Fe Plaza
l
in
i 1874.
Los fleteros comerciantes de México llegan a la Plaza de Santa Fe en 1874
Scene in Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Sylvia Loomis Collection; Courtesy New Mexico State Records Center & Archives, Negative no: 21949
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, el “Royal Road of the Interior,”
era la más antigua ruta comercial euroamericana en los Estados
Unidos. La ruta unía la Ciudad de México, la capital colonial
española, con su frontera norte, en el lejano Nuevo México. Era
parte de un sistema intercontinental de caminos reales de España—
una red global de caminos y rutas marítimas.
La ruta se extiende por tres siglos, dos países y 2.575 kilómetros
(1,600 millas). Se abrió siguiendo una red de senderos que conectaba
las culturas antiguas de México con las de la parte oeste del interior
que hoy pertenece a los Estados Unidos.
Empezando en la Ciudad de México, este camino fronterizo
para carretas condujo pobladores a lo que hoy es Nuevo México.
Al cruzar los desiertos al norte de la ciudad de Chihuahua, los
viajeros siguieron el ancho valle del Río Grande hacia el norte hasta
llegar a Nuevo México. Muchos de los parajes históricos y los
asentamientos más antiguos fundados por los pobladores hispanos
en su trayectoria por El Camino Real son las actuales ciudades
modernas ubicadas a lo largo del Río Grande.
National Historic Trail
Sendero Histórico Nacional
The trail has fostered exchanges
between people from many
backgrounds, including
American Indians, Spaniards
and other Europeans,
Mexicans, and later New
Mexicans, and others from the
United States.
El sendero ha fomentado
intercambios entre personas
de orígenes muy diferentes,
incluyendo indígenas,
españoles y otros europeos,
mexicanos y, más tarde,
nuevomexicanos, así como
otros grupos de los Estados
Unidos.
The corridor of the historic
trail is still very much alive,
125 years after the coming
of the railroad eclipsed
commercial use of the route.
The historic trail in the United
States was added to the
National Trails System in 2000.
It is administered by the U.S.
Department of the Interior
under the National Park
Service (NPS) and the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM),
in partnership with land
owners, tribes, and other
agencies.
Panel size: 36" x 48"
Quantity of 2
Unos 125 años después de
que la llegada del ferrocarril
eclipsara el uso comercial
de la ruta, el corredor de
este sendero histórico tiene
todavía mucha vida.
La porción del sendero
histórico en los Estados
Unidos fue añadida al Sistema
Nacional de Senderos en el
año 2000. Es administrado
por el Ministerio del Interior
de los Estados Unidos a
través del Servicio de Parques
Nacionales (NPS) y del
Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), en asociación con
propietarios, tribus indígenas
y otras agencias.
Version: 08/20/10
Calle de Guadalupe, Ciudad Chihuahua
Courtesy Palace of the Governors (MNM/DCA)
Negative no: 054088
(Right top and center)
Travel and trade along
this route resulted in
the exchange of cultural
materials and traditions. The
introduction of Catholicism;
horses, sheep, and other
stock animals; new fruits and
vegetables; and various forms
of architecture and systems of
government, had significant
consequences on the region
and the continent.
The historic route of El Camino
Real de Tierra Adentro
La ruta histórico
(Bottom right)
Visitors hike along the
Jornada del Muerto, in
southern New Mexico, one
of the most pristine traces of
the historic trail. The NPS and
BLM work with partners to
develop places to visit along
the trail.
(Arriba a la derecha y al
centro)
Los viajes y el comercio a
lo largo de esta ruta resul
taron en un intercambio de
materiales y tradiciones cul
turales. La introducc
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail
Yost Escarpment
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association
Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico
k
Welcome to the Yost Escarpment Trail
Moving the Goods
Transportando las mercancías
The Dead Man of the Jornada
El Hombre Muerto de La Jornada
Stories in the Dust
Historias en el polvo
A013
Walking the Ancient Road
Andando por el antiguo camino
You are here
Usted está aquí
Finding the Trail
Encontrando el sendero
El Camino Real
Take a walk in 1598 with Don Juan de
Oñate and those who traveled on El
Camino Real. This 1½ mile-long trail leads
up to the historic Camino Real. You will
be walking where thousands of wagons,
people and livestock traveled between
Mexico City and the small New Mexican
towns on New Spain’s northern frontier.
Along the way there are five interpretive signs
with stories about this part of the journey.
The trail ends at the top of an escarpment—
a steep, rocky slope that was a true test
for caravans with huge freight wagons.
Bienvenidos al Sendero del Yost
Escarpment
Camine en 1598 con don Juan de Oñate
y aquéllos que recorrieron El Camino
Real. Este sendero de 2,4 kilómetros (1,5
millas) de longitud conduce al histórico
Camino Real. Usted caminará donde
miles de carretas, gente y ganado viajaron
entre la Ciudad de México y los pequeños
poblaciones nuevomexicanos en la frontera
norte de la Nueva España. A lo largo del
sendero hay cinco paneles interpretativos
con historias sobre esta parte del viaje.
El sendero termina en la cima de un
crestón, una ladera rocosa y muy inclinada
que verdaderamente ponía a prueba las
caravanas de grandes carretones de carga.
Travelers called this desolate
stretch the Jornada del Muerto.
About 10 miles south of here
rough terrain forced Spanish
colonists to veer away from the
Rio Grande and the security of
year-round water. For the next
90 miles there would be little or
no water, firewood or forage for
the livestock.
Imagine entering this landscape
at the head of a column of
more than 700 people, 7,000
head of livestock, and 100
freight wagons. Until railroad
lines were completed in the
1880s this was the only route for
heavy wagons.
Rules of the Royal Road
Las Reglas de El Camino Real
Heels, hoofs and wheels
The Bureau of Land Management
would like you to experience El
Camino Real just like the early
travelers: on foot or on horseback.
Please leave mountain bikes and offhighway vehicles in the parking lot.
Talones, pezuñas y ruedas
Al Bureau of Land Management le
gustaría que usted tuviera una experiencia
en El Camino Real semejante a la de
los primeros viajeros: a pie o a caballo.
Favor de dejar las bicicletas de montaña
y los vehículos todo terreno en el
estacionamiento.
Campfires
Since this is arid country with plenty
of wind, campfires are not allowed.
Cattle
Like the early days, there are no
fences to control the movement of
animals. If you see cattle, please
stay a safe distance away. Although
they are used to seeing people,
cattle should not be approached.
They could be dangerous if they are
mistreated or if they think you are
offering them food.
Stay found
Stay on the trail. It is very easy to get
turned around in mesquite country.
Look and leave it
Look and leave it. Allow others a
sense of discovery. Leave things
where you find them. Stuff that may
look like junk or trash can provide
important information about the
trail’s history. Taking historic
artifacts or other materials away is
against the law.
Viajeros llamaban a este
tramo desolado la Jornada del
Muerto. Cerca de 16 kilómetros
(10 millas) al sur de aquí, el
terreno escabroso forzó a
los pobladores españoles
que viajaban hacia el norte a
desviarse del Río Grande y de
la seguridad que ofrecía el agua
del río durante todo el año. Por
los siguientes 145 kilómetros
(90 millas) había muy poco o
nada de agua, leña o pastura
para el ganado.
Imagínense entrando en
este paisaje a la cabeza de
una columna de más de 700
personas, 7 mil cabezas de
ganado y 100 carretones de
carga. Hasta que las vías del
ferrocarril fueron completadas
en la década de 1880, ésta era
la única ruta para los pesados
carretones.
Fogatas
Se prohíben las fogatas, ya que éste es un
terreno muy árido y con mucho viento.
Ganado Vacuno
Así como en tiempos pasados, no hay
cercos para restringir el movimiento
de los animales. Si se encuentra con
ganado vacuno, favor de mantener una
distancia segura. Aunque los animales
están habituados a ver gente, uno no debe
acercarse a ellos. Podrían ser peligrosos si
se les maltrata o si piensan que se les está
ofreciendo comida.
No Se Pierda
Permanezca en el sendero; es muy fácil
desorientarse en este paisaje de mesquites.
Observar y Dejarlo
Observar y dejarlo; permita que otros
experimenten su propio sentido de
descubrimiento. Deje las cosas donde
se encuentran. Cosas que parecen ser
inútil o basura pueden revelar importante
información sobre la historia del sendero.
La ley prohí
Yost Escarpment ~ Panel 2
Finding the Trail
Encontrando el sendero
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association
Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico
¿No debería ser fácil de ubicar un sendero utilizado por
miles y miles de personas, carretas y animales? No siempre.
Las pistas cambiarán dependiendo del tipo de terreno por el
que pasa el sendero. Mire más allá de este panel. Allá está El
Camino Real, a unos pocos cientos de metros hacia el sur.
Here, at the southernmost portion of the Jornada del Muerto,
large caravans struggled through the barren landscape,
moving people and trade goods to and from Mexico.
Aquí, en el tramo más al sur de la Jornada del Muerto,
caravanas grandes luchaban al cruzar el terreno desolado,
transportando personas y bienes desde y hacia México.
▲
Shouldn’t a trail used by countless thousands of people,
wagons, and livestock be easy to locate? Not always. The clues
will change with the type of terrain the trail crosses. Look
beyond this sign. El Camino Real is out there, only a few
hundred yards to the south.
Do you see that broken line
of darker trees? Those are
mesquite that have taken root
along the old trail.
As caravans passed on El
Camino Real, they cut a dusty
path across fragile soils. Wind
and rain eroded the trail into a
wide depression called a swale.
Rainwater pooling in the swale
germinated the tough seeds of
mesquite and cactus left behind
in the fertile droppings of cattle,
sheep, pigs, horses, and mules.
Panel size: 36" x 24"
Version: 8/20/10
¿Puede ver la línea quebrada
de árboles más oscuros? Son
árboles de mesquite que han
crecido a lo largo del viejo
sendero.
Al pasar por El Camino Real,
las caravanas cortaban un
sendero polvoriento a través
de frágiles suelos. El viento y la
lluvia erosionaron el sendero,
formando una amplia depresión
conocida como un bajío. El
agua de lluvia estancada en el
bajío hacía germinar las duras
semillas de mesquite y cactos
que el ganado vacuno, ovejas,
cerdos, caballos y mulas habían
dejado en su fértil excremento.
Discovery Exhibits • Santa Fe, NM
Yost Escarpment ~ Panel 3
Walking the Ancient Road
Andando por el antiguo camino
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association
Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico
You are now walking on one of the great roads of North
American history. Traveling the entire length of El Camino
Real between Mexico City and Santa Fe required a six-month
commitment. You might have experienced Indian attacks
on the caravan, days without water, food shortages, river
crossings, heatstroke, grass fires, and snakebites. You would
have spent at least two nights on the trail, pushing on through
the night or sleeping in a rough campground, or paraje.
En este momento, usted está caminando por uno de los
grandes caminos de la historia de Norteamérica. El viaje
por toda la extensión de El Camino Real entre la Ciudad de
México y Santa Fe requería un compromiso de seis meses.
Podría haber experimentado indios atacando la caravana,
días sin agua, escasez de comida, cruces de ríos, insolación,
incendios en las praderas y mordeduras de víboras. Habría
pasado por lo menos dos noches en el sendero, tratando de
avanzar por la noche o durmiendo en un rudo campamento
o paraje.
“On the 25th day, having to cross the great
distance of the Jornada del Muerto… I left
the San Diego paraje having taken on water
and wood. Traveling in a north northeasterly
direction, I went 11 leagues over plains… We then
camped in Las Penuelas clearing, like the other
uninhabited, and having neither wood nor water.”
—Don Pedro de Rivera,
Brigadier of the Royal Spanish Armies, 1726
Panel size: 36" x 24"
Version: 8/20/10
“El día veinte y cinco, respecto á haver de
transitar la larga distancia de la Jornada
del Muerto…partí del paraje de San Diego,
de donde se cargó agua, y leña: y tomando
el rumbo del Nor Nordeste, caminé once
leguas, por tierra llana…y haciendo alto en
un paraje despoblado como los antecedentes,
sin agua, ni leña, que llaman Las Peñuelas.”
—Don Pedro de Rivera,
Brigadier de los Reales Ejércitos, 1726
Discovery Exhibits • Santa Fe, NM
Yost Escarpment ~ Panel 4
Stories in the Dust
Historias en el polvo
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail
Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico
Recently, archaeologists wanting to learn more about El
Camino Real have been getting on their knees to study the
trail’s story.
Recientemente, los arqueólogos que quieren saber más sobre
El Camino Real se han puesto de rodillas para estudiar la
historia del sendero.
Most of the artifacts found along El Camino Real are from
the last half of the 1800s. During this period, U.S. merchants
shipped goods west along the Santa Fe Trail and then down
El Camino Real. Much like today, some people tossed their
empty containers and worn out goods onto the side of the
road. Archaeologists have found cans, cartridges, broken
bottles, tin coffee pots, buttons, horse and mule shoes, tack
and other manufactured items along the trail.
Casi todos los artefactos encontrados a lo largo de El Camino
Real datan de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. Durante este
período, los comerciantes estadounidenses transportaban
mercancías al oeste por el Santa Fe Trail y después hacia el sur
por El Camino Real. Como sucede hoy en día, había personas
que tiraban sus recipientes vacíos y bienes que ya no servían
al lado del camino. A lo largo del sendero, los arqueólogos
han encontrado latas, cartuchos, botellas quebradas, cafeteras
de hojalata, botones, herraduras para caballos y mulas, arreos
estropeados y otros objetos manufacturados.
Two archaeology volunteers study
artifacts at the Yost Escarpment.
On the Jornada del Muerto,
people and draft animals literally
walked out of their shoes.
Photo: Jean Fulton, El Camino Real de Tierro Adentro Trail
Association (CARTA)
The rough trail jolted the nails loose
from wagons and carriages. Hundreds
of cobbler’s nails, farrier’s nails, and
upholstery nails tell the story of this
difficult crossing.
En la Jornada del Muerto, tanto
personas como animales de tiro
literalmente saltaron de sus calzados.
Photo: Jean Fulton, El Camino Real de Tierro Adentro Trail Association (CARTA)
Panel size: 36" x 24"
Version: 8/20/10
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association
El sendero escabroso también hacía que
se aflojaran los clavos de las carretas y los
carruajes. Cientos de clavos—de zapatero,
de herrero y de tapicero—cuentan la
historia de esta difícil travesía.
Dos voluntarios en arqueología
estudian artefactos del Yost
Escarpment.
Should you pick that up?
¿Debería recogerlo?
It is illegal to collect artifacts—old
glass and bottles, nails and metal
scraps, pottery and sherds, coins,
arrowheads, or other items left by
previous trail travelers. Look, enjoy,
and then leave these pieces of
history for others to find and study.
Es ilegal recoger artefactos: vidrio y
botellas antiguas, clavos y pedazos
de metal, cerámicas y fragmentos
de las mismas, monedas, puntas
de flecha u otros objetos dejados
por previos viajeros del sendero.
Observe, disfrute y después deje
estas piezas de la historia para
que otros puedan hallarlos y
estudiarlos.
Professional archaeologists and
volunteers work under special
permits granted by the Bureau of
Land Management for scientific
study of the trail. Archaeologists
use what they find to learn more
about the history of the trail and
the daily life of trail travelers.
Arqueólogos profesionales y
voluntarios trabajan con permisos
especiales otorgados por el
Bureau of Land Management
con el propósito de estudiar
científicamente el sendero.
Los arqueólogos usan lo que
encuentran para aprender más
sobre la historia del sendero y la
vida cotidiana de los viajeros que
lo recorrieron.
Discovery Exhibits • Santa Fe, NM
The Dead Man of the Jornada
El Hombre Muerto de La Jornada
Although many travelers died on this harsh stretch of road,
the Jornada del Muerto, or the Journey of the Dead Man,
got its name from the fate of Bernardo Gruber, a German
trader working out of Sonora, Mexico. Agents of the Spanish
inquisition imprisoned Gruber, El Aleman (the German), in
1668 under suspicion of practicing witchcraft.
After two years in a tiny prison cell near Sandia Pueblo, he
escaped with the help of an Apache friend. The two fled
south on El Camino Real. After two waterless days of travel,
El Aleman stopped and sent his friend ahead to search for
water. When the Apache returned two days later, El Aleman
had disappeared.
Weeks later traders traveling south found “a roan horse tied
to a tree by a halter. It was dead…” Searching, they soon
discovered “hair and the remnants of clothing…the skull,
three ribs, two long bones, and two other little bones which
had been gnawed by animals.” These were later determined
to be the grisly remains of Bernardo Gruber.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association
Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico
Aunque muchos viajeros perecieron en este tramo arduo del
camino, la Jornada del Muerto fue nombrada por lo que le pasó
a Bernardo Gruber, un tratante alemán de Sonora, México.
Oficiales de la Inquisición española arrestaron a Gruber, El
Alemán, en 1668, bajo sospecha de practicar brujería.
Después de pasar dos años en una pequeña cárcel en el Pueblo
de Sandía, se escapó con la ayuda de un apache amigo; los
dos huyeron hacia el sur por El Camino Real. Después de dos
días de fuga sin agua, El Alemán se detuvo y envió a su amigo
adelante a buscar agua. Cuando el apache volvió dos días
después, El Alemán había desaparecido.
Unas semanas después, algunos tratantes con rumbo hacia el
sur encontraron “un caballo de color rosillo amarrado a un
árbol con un cabestro ya muerto…” Después de inspeccionar
el área, pronto descubrieron “su cabello y las señas de la ropa
que traía…la calabera, tres costillas, dos colmillos, y otros dos
guesillos pequeños roídos de animales.” Por fin determinaron
que eran los espantosos restos de Bernardo Gruber.
From a cross to a ranch
De cruz a rancho
A cross was erected at the spot
where Bernardo Gruber died in
1670. That place became known
by travelers as La Cruz del Aleman
or just Aleman. Almost 200 years
later, in 1867, Civil War veteran
John Martin dug a water well in
that general location and named his
ranch “El Aleman.” Over the years
this ranch has been a traveler’s rest
stop, or paraje, a stagecoach stop
and even a post office. In the mid
1880s, the traveller's rest became
part of the Bar Cross Ranch.
Una cruz fue erigida en el lugar
donde Bernardo Gruber murió
en 1670. Ese lugar llegó a ser
conocido por viajeros como La
Cruz del Alemán o simplemente
Alemán. Casi 200 años después,
en 1867, John Martin, veterano
de la Guerra Civil, cavó un pozo
en el área circundante y nombró
su rancho “El Alemán”. A través
de los años, este rancho funcionó
como un lugar de descanso, o
paraje, para viajeros; una parada
para diligencias; y aun una estafeta.
A mediados de la década de 1880,
este paraje llegó a formar parte del
moderno Bar Cross Ranch.
Look to the north to see some of
the Bar Cross buildings.
Photo: Bonescape by Jody Johnson
Si mira hacia el norte, podrá ver
algunas de las construcciones del
Bar Cross Ranch.
Yost Escarpment ~ Panel 6
Moving the Goods
Transportando las mercancías
Carros were used to haul goods from central Mexico to the
northern provinces. The wheels on these huge wagons were 8
to 10 feet tall, and 12 feet apart. A carro could carry up to 12,000
pounds of cargo. On El Camino Real they were usually pulled
by oxen or mules.
Carros como éstos se usaban para transportar mercancías
desde México central hasta las provincias del norte. Las ruedas
de estos grandes carretones medían de 2,5 a 3 metros (8-10 pies)
de diámetro y estaban separados por 3,7 metros (12 pies) de
eje a eje. Un carro podía cargar hasta 5.444 kilogramos (12,000
libras) de mercancía. Usualmente, eran tiradas por bueyes o
mulas a lo largo de El Camino Real.
Slight changes in slope meant big
changes if you were moving freight
wagons. When caravans came to
this steep slope, wagon drivers
hitched an extra team of eight oxen
to each wagon. Together, 16 oxen
would pull from the front going
upslope, and hold back from the
rear going down. With luck and
skill, the wagons would cross this
escarpment safely.
Panel size: 36" x 24"
Cambios casi imperceptibles en
la inclinación del camino eran
en realidad grandes cambios si
se trataba de mover carretones
de carga. Cuando las caravanas
llegaban a esta inclinación
precipitosa, los conductores uncían
un grupo extra de ocho bueyes a
cada carro. Juntos, los dieciséis
bueyes tiraban desde el frente
mientras avanzaban cuesta arriba y,
cuando bajaban, detenían la parte
trasera. Con suerte y habilidad,
los carretones podían cruzar esta
escarpa con seguridad.
Version: 8/20/10
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail
Bureau of Land Management
National Park Service
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association
Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico
Carretas were smaller carts used mostly for short hauls. Their
two large wooden wheels turned on a pine axle. This made
an "unearthly music" and "a siren sound which awakened the
dead for five miles or more," said 19th-century travelers.
Carros and carretas were the first wheeled vehicles used in
North America.
En la mayoría de los casos, las carretas eran carros más
pequeños utilizados para viajes más cortos. Las dos grandes
ruedas de madera giraban en un eje hecho de pino. Esto
producía una “música sobrenatural” y “un sonido de sirena
que despertaba a los muertos por unos 8 kilómetros (5 millas)
o más,” según decían los viajeros del siglo XIX. Los carros y
las carretas fueron los primeros vehículos con ruedas que se
usaron en Norteamérica.
Some of the items being moved
along the trail did not require any
wagons. Oñate brought 4,000
head of Churro sheep up the
trail to establish flocks in the new
colonies. Churros, well-suited to
their new home, could survive
for days without water.
Photo: Ingrid Painter, Brownsville, Oregon
Algunas de las cosas que se
transportaban a lo largo del
camino no requerían carretón
ninguno. Oñate trajo consigo 4
mil cabezas de borregos churros
por el camino con el propósito
de establecer rebaños en las
nuevas colonias. Estos borregos,
bien adaptados para su nuevo
hogar, podían sobrevivir por días
sin agua.
Discovery Exhibits • Santa Fe, NM
National Trails System
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Historic Trails
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
The Mormon Pioneer Trail
Across Iowa in 1846
Leaving Nauvoo and “Crossing
the Mississippi on the Ice,” by C. A.
Christensen
Reconstructed Latter-day Saints Temple at Nauvoo,
Illinois.
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS
AUTO TOUR ROUTE INTERPRETIVE
GUIDE
The Mormon Pioneer Trail Across Iowa in 1846
Prepared by
National Park Service
National Trails Intermountain Region
324 South State Street, Suite 200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Telephone: 801-741-1012
www.nps.gov/cali
www.nps.gov/oreg
www.nps.gov/poex
www.nps.gov/mopi
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
April 2007
Second Printing September 2010
contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A New Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Clash of Cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Exodus From Nauvoo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Winter Retreat Across Iowa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Places to Pause, To Rest…To Die. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
A Far Reaching Impact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Sites and Points of Interest
Nauvoo, Illinois to Council Bluffs, Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Credits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Regional Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Iowa - Nebraska
Introduction
T
he Mormon Pioneer
National
Historic Trail
follows the route
Auto Tour
established by
Brigham Young
Route
to bring his
followers from Nauvoo, Illinois,
to the Valley of the Great Salt
Lake, where The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
has been based for more than
160 years. That first migration
of Latter-day Saints to the Great
Basin occurred in two stages: in
1846, from western Illinois to
the Missouri River in the area
of today’s Council Bluffs, Iowa;
and in 1847, from the Missouri
River to Salt Lake City. This Auto
Tour Route interpretive
guide covers the
1846 segment of
Mormon Trail from
Illinois through
Iowa. Because
they have not been
designated by Congress
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Iowa - Nebraska
as part of the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, routes and
sites used by later Mormon wagon trains and handcart companies are
not included in this guide.
Individual Auto Tour Route interpretive guides such as this one are
in preparation for each state through which the trail passes. As you
follow the guide, watch for Auto Tour Route highway logos marking
the general route of the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail.
In addition, a National Park Service brochure with a map of the
entire Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail is available at many
trail-related venues, and also can be requested from the trail’s
administrative office at 324 South State Street, Suite 200, Salt Lake
City, Utah.
Historic Nauvoo, pioneer wagon ruts, emigrant camps, and other
places of interest along or near the trail corridor are listed within this
guide. Driving directions are also provided. Entrance and parking fees
may be charged at some locations; hours may vary at the discretion
of the managers —you may want to call ahead. Large groups are
encouraged to make prior arrangements for tours, where available.
2
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Iowa - Nebraska
A New Faith
M
ormons, as Latter-day Saints are popularly called, practice a
unique religion that arose in 1830 from the teachings of church
founder Joseph Smith, Jr. Early converts to the new faith followed
their prophet from New York to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois through
the 1830s and ’40s. They were driven from each state by threats and
violence.
The reasons for the Latter-day Saints’ early troubles still are debated,
but religious, political, economic, and social practices all were at
issue. Because Mormon beliefs about God and family differed in
important ways from mainstream Christianity, they drew criticism
and scorn. Because the Latter-day Saints created their own separate
towns, religion-based governments, and security forces, their
neighbors became uneasy and fearful. Resentment grew as the
church became involved in local, state, and eventually, national
politics. Disagreements led to legal battles and, in cases, violence
National Trails System Office
Intermountain Region
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Historic Trails
Interpretive Auto Tour
Western Missouri Through Northeastern Kansas
“Westport Landing”
— by William Henry Jackson
Courtesy—William Henry Jackson Collection at Scotts Bluff National
Monument .
R
Driving directions to the sites are provided from major
highways and nearby towns. To follow overland trail routes
between sites, follow the Auto Tour Route highway signs.
Generally, local brochures and guides are also available.
Entrance and parking fees may be charged at some locations,
and hours may vary at the discretion of site administrators.
Large groups are encouraged to make prior arrangements for
tours, where tours are available. Please respect private property
by staying in public areas, and help protect our national
heritage by leaving trail resources undisturbed.
National Trails System Office
324 South State Street, Suite 200
P.O. Box 45155
Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0155
Auto Tour
Route
oadside Auto Tour Route
signs mark the general
routes of the Oregon,
California, and Pony Express
national historic trails through
western Missouri and northeast
Kansas. Actual wagon wheel
ruts, emigrant camps, Pony
Express stations, and other
places of interest can be visited
at the sites listed in this guide.
Interpretive Auto Tour
Western Missouri - Northeast Kansas
ACROSS THE WIDE
MISSOURI
ON THEIR OWN
T
N
he story of the American West is not simply a tale of pioneer
courage and vision—of prairie schooners swaying
westward to the strains of heroic music. Rather, it is a complex
weave of plots and subplots, of romance and religion, of politics
and money, and of personal and national tragedy.
Traces of the people, livestock, and wooden wheels that were
part of those stories can still be found on the landscape. There
are traces, too, of native peoples whose lives were changed by
emigration. This guide will provide descriptions of the historic
places where wagon wheels cut into soft stream banks and over
rolling prairie, where lonely trailside graves lie, where missionary
outposts were established for Native Americans, and where Pony
Express stations were, and more.
Pioneers gathered to prepare for their journey at Independence
and St. Joseph, Missouri. From there, they would embark
across the wide and muddy Missouri River into a strange,
windswept land of unfamiliar wonders—and dangers.
ot fit for farming, too windswept and exposed to attract
homesteaders, the “Great American Desert” that
unrolled west of the Missouri River was seen as landscape to be
crossed on the way to a better place. That crossing, travelers of
the mid-19th century knew, was, by turn, exhausting and
exhilarating, and tedious and terrifying. Emigrants’ excitement
and anxiety mounted as they prepared to launch their ox-drawn
prairie schooners from St. Joseph and Independence, Missouri,
bustling river ports at the frontier’s edge. To them, the great, gray
ribbon of the Missouri was the western shore of civilized society.
Once their wagons rolled off the ferry onto the Kansas side,
emigrants embarked into unfamiliar country—trespassers on
Indian lands, and beyond the protection of the government. On
the trail, there were no markets, no hospitals, no laws, and no
second chances.
From there until they reached trail’s end some 2,000 miles later,
the pioneer emigrants were on their own.
Here we were, without law, without order,
and without restraint; in a state of nature,
amid the confused, revolving fragments of
elementary society! Some were sad, while
others were merry; and while the brave
doubted, the timid trembled!
—Lansford W. Hastings,
. . . . I, like every other pioneer, love to live
over again, in memory those romantic
months, and revisit, in fancy, the scenes of the
journey.
—Catherine Haun,
—California emigration of 1849
In the winter of 18 and 46 our neighbor got
hold of Fremont’s History of California and .
. . . brought the book to my husband to read,
& he was carried away with the idea [of
emigrating] too. I said O let us not go!
—Mary Jones,
—California emigration of 1846
Interpretive Auto Tour
Western Missouri - Northeast Kansas
DANGER, DEATH, AND DISAPPOINTMENT
M
ost emigrants lived in fear of Indian attack. Rumors
of—even hoaxes about—trailside massacres drifted
back to Eastern newspapers, and many travelers packed a virtual
arsenal to protect themselves on the road. For the most part,
though, their fears were unfounded. Historians conclude that
more Indian people than emigrants were killed in clashes along
the Oregon and California trails.
A more serious threat to those gathering at the congested
jumping-off places along the Missouri River was a mysterious
killer that could neither be seen nor fought: cholera. In the mid-19th
century, no one realized that this virulent and painful intestinal
infection was caused by bacteria. Spread unknowingly from
waterhole to waterhole by sick travel
National Trails System
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Historic Trails
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Nebraska and Northeastern Colorado
“Approaching Chimney
Rock”
By William Henry Jackson
Chimney Rock, in western Nebraska, was one of the most notable
landmarks recorded in emigrant diaries and journals. Photograph is
courtesy of The Wagner Perspective.
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS
AUTO TOUR ROUTE INTERPRETIVE
GUIDE
Nebraska and Northeastern Colorado
Prepared by
National Park Service
National Trails System—Intermountain Region
324 South State Street, Suite 200
Box 30
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Telephone: 801-741-1012
www.nps.gov/cali
www.nps.gov/oreg
www.nps.gov/mopi
www.nps.gov/poex
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
August 2006
Contents
Introduction • • • • • • •
1
The Great Platte River Road • • • • • • •
From Path to Highway • • • • • • •
“A Whiz and a Hail” — The Pony Express • • • • •
A “Frayed Rope” • • • • • • •
The Platte Experience • • • • • • •
Natives and Newcomers: A Gathering Storm • • • • • • •
War on the Oregon & California Trails • • • • • • •
Corridor to Destiny • • • • • • •
2
4
8
11
15
18
21
24
SITES AND POINTS OF INTEREST • • • • • • •
Auto Tour Segment A:
Odell to Kearney • • • • • • •
Auto Tour Segment B:
Omaha-Central City-Kearney • • • • • •
Auto Tour Segment C:
Nebraska City-Central City-Kearney • • • • • • •
Auto Tour Segment D:
Kearney to Wyoming Border • • • • • • •
25
For More Information • • • • • • •
61
Regional Map • • • • • • •
26
35
41
43
inside the back cover
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Nebraska
Introduction
M
any of the pioneer trails and other
historic routes that are important in
our nation’s past have been designated by
Congress as National Historic Trails. While
Auto Tour
most of those old roads and routes are
Route
not open to motorized traffic, people can
drive along modern highways that lie close
to the original trails. Those modern roads
are designated as Auto Tour Routes, and they are marked with highway
signs and trail logos to help today’s travelers follow the trails used by the
pioneers who helped to open a new nation.
This interpretive publication guides visitors along the Auto Tour Routes
for the Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express National
Historic Trails as they approach and parallel the Platte River across
Nebraska and cut across the northeastern corner of Colorado. Siteby-site driving directions are included, and an overview map is located
inside the back cover. To make the tour more meaningful, this guide also
provides an historical overview of the four trails, shares the thoughts and
experiences of emigrants who followed those routes, and describes how
the westward expansion impacted native peoples of the Great Plains.
Individual Auto Tour Route interpretive guides such as this one are in
preparation for each state through which the trails pass. In addition,
individual National Park Service interpretive brochures for the Oregon,
California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express National Historic Trails
are available at many trail-related venues, and can be requested from
the National Trails System Office at 324 South State, Suite 200, Box
30, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111. These brochures provide more detailed
information about each of the trails. Additional information on each trail
also can be found on individual trail web sites. Links are listed on the title
page of this guide.
1
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Nebraska
The Great Platte River Road
“Too thick to drink, too thin to plow, too pale to paint.” “A mile wide and
an inch deep.” “A stream flowing upside down.”
C
overed wagon pioneers of the 19th century liked to joke about
Nebraska’s Platte River, a stream unlike any they had known back
East. But the Platte, strange as it looked, was no joke. A summer shower
could send it raging over-bank and through camp; its soft quicksand
bottom could swallow up an ox team. River crossings were ordeals to
dread.
The river’s setting, too, seemed strange. Surrounding prairie, frequently
cleansed by wildfire, was burned bare of trees right up to the water’s
edge, and a line of low sand hills, looking like a storm-wracked beach,
rimmed much of the river valley.
Yet the yellow Platte, that treeless “Coast of Nebraska,” was an emigrant’s
lifeline—a water source that snaked 800 dusty miles between the
Missouri River and the uplands of central Wyoming.
Though a choked and sandy disappointment of a stream, the Platte
always was and still is a natural east-west corridor across the central
plains. Migrating game and moccasin-clad feet wore paths through the
“Fort Kearny & the South Platte River”
by William Henry Jackson.
2
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Nebraska
valley thousands of years before any white man ventured there. Like
those first travelers, covered wagon emigrants and their slow, plodding
oxen found water, grass, and fuel
National Trails System
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Historic Trails
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Along the Snake River Plain Through
Idaho
“Three Island Crossing” by William
Henry Jackson
“Great Falls” on the Snake River. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS
AUTO TOUR ROUTE INTERPRETIVE
GUIDE
The Tangle of Trails Through Idaho
Prepared by
National Park Service
National Trails System—Intermountain Region
324 South State Street, Suite 200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Telephone: 801-741-1012
www.nps.gov/cali
www.nps.gov/oreg
www.nps.gov/poex
www.nps.gov/mopi
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
October 2008
Contents
Introduction• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1
THE DESERT WEST• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2
THE SNAKE COUNTRY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 4
FINDING THE WAY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 7
WYOMING TO FORT HALL• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 11
THE RAFT RIVER PARTING OF THE WAYS• • • • • • • • • • 20
ON TO OREGON• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 22
‘O FOR MORE PATIENCE’: A SNAKE RIVER SOJOURN • • 29
‘DEATH OR THE DIGGINS’• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 32
‘OUTRAGES HAVE BEEN COMMITTED’• • • • • • • • • • • 35
YESTERDAY AND TODAY• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 41
SITES AND POINTS OF INTEREST• • • • • • • • • • • • •
42
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT A: WYOMING TO OREGON ON THE
SNAKE RIVER ROUTE OF THE OREGON TRAIL
• • • • 45
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT B: THE SOUTH ALTERNATE
OREGON TRAIL ROUTE, GLENNS FERRY TO OREGON
STATE LINE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 78
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 82
Credits:
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 82
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Idaho
Introduction
M
any of the pioneer trails and other historic
routes that are important in our nation’s
past have been designated by Congress as National
Auto Tour Historic Trails. While most of the old roads and
routes still in existance are not open to motorized
Route
traffic, people can drive along modern highways
that closely parallel the original trails. Those
modern roads are designated as Auto Tour Routes, and they are
marked with highway signs and trail logos to help today’s travelers
follow the trails used by the pioneers who helped to open the
American West.
This interpretive publication guides visitors along the Auto Tour
Routes for the Oregon and California National Historic Trails
across Idaho. Site-by-site driving directions are included, and an
overview map is located inside the back cover. To make the tour
more meaningful, this guide also provides a historical overview of
the two trails, shares the thoughts and experiences of emigrants who
followed these routes, and discusses how the westward expansion
impacted native peoples of Idaho.
Individual Auto Tour Route interpretive guides such as this one are in
preparation for each state through which the trails pass. In addition,
individual National Park Service brochures for the Oregon and
California National Historic Trails are available at many trail-related
venues, and also can be requested from the National Trails System
administrative office at 324 South State Street, Suite 200, Salt Lake
City, Utah 84111. Each brochure includes a map of the entire trail
and an overview of trail history. Additional information about each
trail also can be found on individual trail web sites. Links are listed
on the “For More Information” page of this guide.
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Idaho
THE DESERT WEST
A
s covered-wagon emigrants crossed today’s Idaho, they found
the romance of the road wearing as thin as the soles of their trailtorn shoes.
The pioneers’ initial energy
and excitement curdled into
fatigue and crankiness after
three or more months on the
road. Nightly fireside dances
got left behind back down the
trail, next to Grandpa’s clock,
Mother’s good china, and
heaps of souring bacon. Highjinks and horse races grew
rare, quarrels more frequent.
Journal-keepers, when they
“Freighters Grub Pile,” by William
mustered the energy to write at all,
Henry Jackson. Courtesy of Library of
generally jotted terse complaints
Congress.
about fellow travelers, Indians, heat,
exhaustion, dust, mosquitoes, aches and pains, and the “stink” of the
never-ending sagebrush.
It seems the nearer we approach Oregon the worse roads we
have, and a worse more rough looking country.
—Amelia Hadley, 1851 Oregon emigration
Felt today like giving up in despair, the intolerable heat and dust,
together with fatigue makes me almost sick at heart.
—Esther Belle Hanna, 1852 California emigration
[Men] are by turns, or all together, cross, peevish, sullen,
boisterous, giddy, profane, dirty, vulgar, ragged, mustachioed,
bewhiskered, idle, petulant, quarrelsome, unfaithful, disobedient,
refractory, careless,
National Trails System
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Historic Trails
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Across Wyoming
“Rendezvous,” by
William Henry Jackson
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS
AUTO TOUR ROUTE INTERPRETIVE
GUIDE
Across Wyoming
Prepared by
National Park Service
National Trails Intermountain Region
www.nps.gov/cali
www.nps.gov/oreg
www.nps.gov/mopi
www.nps.gov/poex
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
US DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Third Printing December 2016
Historical marker on South Pass recognizing the first “white” women to make
the trek to Oregon in 1836.
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Gateway to the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Blazing the Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Approaching the Rockies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Sweetwater to South Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Beyond the Great Divide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Leapfrogging Across Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Ho for California! Oregon or Bust! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Fire on the Plains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
God Speed to the Boy & the Pony! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The End of the Trail Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Sites and Points of Interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Auto Tour Segment A —Nebraska State Line to Casper . . . . . . .
Auto Tour Segment B —Casper to Seedskadee . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Auto Tour Segment C —The Lander Road. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Auto Tour Segment D —Seedskadee to Idaho State Line. . . . . . .
Auto Tour Segment E —Seedskadee to Utah State Line. . . . . . . .
38
50
68
70
71
For More Information/Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Regional Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover
Eastern view of the Sweetwater River Valley from atop Independence Rock, by
William Henry Jackson. Image is courtesy of the Brigham Young University Online
Collection.
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Wyoming
INTRODUCTION
Auto Tour
Route
any of the pioneer trails and other
M
historic routes that are important in
our nation’s past have been designated by
Congress as national historic trails. While
most of those old roads and routes are not
open to motorized traffic, people can drive
along modern highways that lie close to
the original trails. Those modern roads are designated as Auto Tour
Routes, and are marked with highway signs and trail logos to help
today’s travelers follow the trails used by the pioneers who helped to
open a new nation.
This interpretive publication guides visitors along the Auto Tour
Routes for the Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony
Express national historic trails as they as they cross the state of
Wyoming from east to west. Site-by-site driving directions are
included, and an overview map is located inside the back cover. To
make the tour more meaningful, this guide also provides a historical
overview of the four trails, shares the thoughts and experiences of
emigrants who followed those routes, and describes how westward
expansion impacted native peoples of the Intermountain West.
National Park Service interpretive brochures for the Oregon,
California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express national historic trails
are available at many trail-related venues, or can be requested via
email to ntir_information@nps.gov. Additional information on each
trail also can be found on individual trail websites. Links are listed on
the title page of this guide.
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Wyoming
GATEWAY TO THE WEST
History is geography set into motion.
—Johann Gottfried Herder, 18th century philosopher of history
T
he Rocky Mountains stretch like a jagged spine between Alaska
and Mexico, splitting North America into East and West. The
Continental Divide is not a simple line of peaks, easily threaded by
tracks and roads, but a complex of overlapping mountain ranges and
treeless sagebrush steppe, hundreds of miles wide. In the days of
covered wagon travel, the Rockies were an imposing barrier to the
movement of people, commerce, and communications.
Early explorers probed the Northern Rockies looking for the
fabled “Northwest Passage” that would open an easy route for
transcontinental traffic. The men of Lewis and Clark’s Cor
National Trails System
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Historic Trails
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Utah — Crossroads of the West
“Wagons Through Echo Canyon,”
by William Henry Jackson
Pony Express Bible photograph is courtesy of Joe
Nardone, — Pony Express History Association.
Every Pony Express rider working for Russell, Majors, and Waddell, was
issued a personal Bible to carry with them and obliged to pledge this oath:
“I, [name of rider] - do hereby swear before the great and living God that
during my engagement and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors, and
Waddell, I will under no circumstances use profane language, I will drink no
intoxicating liquors; that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee
of the firm and that in every respect I will I conduct myself honestly,
faithful to my duties, and so direct my acts, as to win the confidence of my
employers, So help me God.”
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS
AUTO TOUR ROUTE INTERPRETIVE
GUIDE
Utah — Crossroads of the West
Prepared by
National Park Service
National Trails—Intermountain Region
324 South State Street, Suite 200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Telephone: 801-741-1012
www.nps.gov/cali
www.nps.gov/oreg
www.nps.gov/poex
www.nps.gov/mopi
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
September 2010
Contents
INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1
A NOTE ON STATE BOUNDARIES • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2
THE BIG EMPTY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3
SAGEBRUSH AND SALT FLATS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 4
FIRST WAGONS INTO UTAH • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 7
‘A NIGHER ROUTE’: The Hastings Cutoff • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 11
‘THIS IS THE PLACE’: The Mormon Pioneers • • • • • • • • • • • • •18
A HALF-WAY HOUSE ON THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL • • • • • • • • • 28
THE UTAH WAR • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 34
‘THE FORLORNEST SPOT’: The Pony Express Trail in Utah • • • 36
THE WARPATH • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 43
CROSSROADS OF THE WEST• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 47
SITES AND POINTS OF INTEREST • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 49
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT A: Wyoming Border To Salt Lake
City, Utah — (Hastings Cutoff Of The California, Mormon
Pioneer, and Pony Express Trails) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 49
OPTIONAL BACKCOUNTRY ROUTE: East Canyon/Little
Emigration Canyon • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 65
SALT LAKE CITY PIONEER TOUR • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 77
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT B: Salt Lake City To West Wendover,
NV • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 90
OPTIONAL BACKCOUNTRY ROUTE: Skull Valley and Hastings
Pass • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 95
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT C: Salt Lake City To City Of Rocks NR,
ID (Salt Lake Cutoff of the California Trail) • • • • • • • • • • 105
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT D: Pony Express Trail National Back
Country Byway • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 110
For More Information • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 122
Credits • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 122
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Utah
INTRODUCTION
M
any of the pioneer trails and other
historic routes that are important in
our nation’s past have been designated by
Congress as National Historic Trails. While
most of the trail ruts still in existence are not
open to motorized traffic, people can drive
along modern highways that either overlie
the original route or closely parallel it. Those
modern roads are designated as Auto Tour
Routes, and they are marked with highway
signs and trail logos to help today’s travelers
follow the routes used by the pioneers who
helped to open the American West.
This interpretive publication guides visitors along the Auto Tour
Routes for the California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express
National Historic Trails across Utah. Site-by-site driving directions
are included, and an overview map is located inside the back
cover. To make the tour more meaningful, this guide also provides
a historical overview of the three trails, shares the thoughts and
experiences of emigrants who followed these routes, and discusses
how the westward expansion impacted the native peoples of what is
now Utah.
Individual Auto Tour Route interpretive guides such as this one
are in preparation for each state through which the trails pass.
In addition, individual National Park Service brochures for the
California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express National Historic
Trails are available at many trail-related venues, and also can be
requested from the National Trails System administrative office at
324 South State Street, Suite 200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111. Each
brochure includes a map of the entire trail and a general overview
of
National Trails Intermountain Region
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Historic Trails
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Across Nevada
California National Historic Trail
Pony Express National Historic Trail
By the time they reached the Humboldt Sink, or Forty-mile Desert,
many emigrant pioneers had little food, exhausted livestock, and
broken wagons.
[Cover photo] Forty-mile Desert
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS
AUTO TOUR ROUTE
INTERPRETIVE GUIDE
Across Nevada on the Humboldt Route and
The Central Route of the Pony Express
Prepared by
National Park Service
National Trails Intermountain Region
www.nps.gov/cali
www.nps.gov/oreg
www.nps.gov/poex
www.nps.gov/mopi
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
April 2012
Table of Contents
‘MOST CORDIALLY I HATE YOU’:
THE HUMBOLDT RIVER
••••••••••••••••••••
2
THE GREAT BASIN
••••••••••••••••••••
4
SEEKING MARY’S RIVER
••••••••••••••••••••
5
APPROACHING THE HUMBOLDT
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 11
PRELUDE TO MURDER
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 15
THE HUMBOLDT EXPERIENCE
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 18
WEST TO STONY POINT
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 21
THE POLITICS OF HUNGER
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 24
A FLASH OF THE BLADE
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 27
‘HEARTILY TIRED OF THE JOURNEY’
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 29
THE HUMBOLDT SINK
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 33
THE Forty-mile DESERT; or,
HOW TO KILL AN OX
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 35
INTO THE SIERRA NEVADA
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 42
THE PONY BOYS
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 44
CHANGE IN THE GREAT BASIN
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 51
Sites & Points of Interest:
Setting Out
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 53
Navigating the California Trail Across Nevada • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 54
Tips for Trailing Across Nevada
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 56
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT A:
WEST WENDOVER AND JACKPOT, NEVADA, TO CALIFORNIA
(California Trail)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 58
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT B:
BLACK ROCK DESERT, RYE PATCH RESERVOIR TO GERLACH, NEVADA
(Applegate and Nobles Trails)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 77
AUTO TOUR SEGMENT C:
WEST WENDOVER, NEVADA TO CALIFORNIA BORDER
(Pony Express Trail and Carson and Walker River-Sonora
Routes of the California Trail)
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 86
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 102
Introduction
M
any of the pioneer trails and other historic routes
that are important in our nation’s past have been
designated by Congress as national historic trails. While
most of those old wagon roads and routes are not open
to motorized traffic, visitors can drive along modern
highways that either retrace the original route or closely
parallel it. Those modern roads are designated as Auto Tour Routes.
They are marked with “National Historic Trails” highway signs to help
today’s travelers follow the routes used by the pioneers who helped to
open the American West.
This interpretive publication guides visitors along the Auto Tour
Routes for the California and Pony Express national historic trails as
they cross the state of Nevada from east to west. Site-by-site driving
directions are included, and an overview map is located inside
the back cover. To make the tour more meaningful, this guide also
provides a historical overview of the two trails, shares the thoughts
and experiences of emigrants who trekked to California, and
discusses how the westward expansion impacted native peoples of
what is now Nevada.
Individual Auto Tour Route interpretive guides such as this one are
in preparation for each state that the Oregon, California, Mormon
Pioneer, and Pony Express trails pass through. In addition, individual
National Park Service brochures for the four national historic trails
are available at many trail-related venues and can be requested from
the National Trails Intermountain Region Salt Lake City Branch
Office at ntsl_interpretation@nps.gov. Each brochure includes a
color map of the entire trail and provides an overview of information
about each of the trails. Additional information can also can be found
on individual trail websites. For links see page 102.
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide
Nevada
‘MOST CORDIALLY I HATE YOU’:
THE HUMBOLDT RIVER
T
he four great rivers that led covered wagon pioneers into the far
West each had a personality all its own.
There was the gritty prairie Platte, cantankerous but dependable;
the brooding, basalt-shrouded Snake, menacing as a stranger with a
hostile stare; and the broad-shouldered Columbia, the Big River of
the West, confident and athletic, striding purposefully toward the
Pacific Ocean.
But the Humboldt.
The Humboldt was sullen and spiteful, a mocking mean joker that
lured emigrants deep into the desert, swindle