Emigrant Gap

Emigrant Gap. . The first wagon train ever brought across the Sierra Nevada Mountains into California was lead by Caleb Greenwood. He led the Steven-Town (sic, Townsend) - Murphy party and came through what is known as the Emigrant Trail. Approximately fifty wagons followed this route in 1845, and about 500 wagons rolled over the trail in 1846. The Emigrant Trail was the main overland route into California for only a couple of years, but the hardships endured and the fortitude of these emigrants have long been written in our California history books. , The emigrants from the east stopped at Emigrant gap for periods of time while their wagons were taken apart and lowered piece by piece, by means of rope and tackle, from the top of the ridge into Bear Valley, where they were reassembled. It was at this point that a small settlement formed. The history of the settlement is very sketchy, but it is known that in the great push from Sacramento to Virginia City during the gold rush a few years later, this trail was well-used by wagons, horsemen, etc., coming again through the settlement of Emigrant Gap, thence to Truckee, Virginia City, or wherever their destination might be.