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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Near Sierraville in Sierra County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
 

Welcome to Kyburz Flat

 
 
Welcome to Kyburz Flat Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
1. Welcome to Kyburz Flat Marker
Inscription. There are three interpretive sites here at Kyburz Flat. Take a moment to understand the people who lived here, how each used the environment in different ways, and the unique marks each left on the landscape.

Visiting all three sites should take about one hour.

This valley was inhabited by the Washoe who lived here as early as 2,000 years ago. See •Petroglyphs

In the 1850s emigrants began using Henness Pass Road which extended from Nevada City, CA to Virginia City, NV. See •More’s Station

Later the valley and surrounding hills were used extensively for grazing and lumbering. Basques began arriving from their homeland in Spain in the early 1900s to tend and graze sheep. See •Wheeler Sheep Ranch

[Interpretive Marker 1:]
Kyburz Petroglyph
Scattered throughout the northern Sierra Nevada are many ancient symbols carved by Native Americans into rock. These images are called petroglyphs. This petroglyph is made up of small round pits (cupules) that have been ground into the rock’s surface. Cupule petroglyphs are found all over the world and particularly in California.

Cupules have been linked with ceremonial activities performed by Native Americans such as fertility rituals, weather control and as places to leave special offerings.

This
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petroglyph cracked into three sections. The illustration depicts how it looked before it cracked. The cupules are best viewed with low angle lighting in the late afternoon.

Some researchers believe that the petroglyphs in this area were made by people who lived here as early as 2,000 years ago and may be ancestors of the Washoe.

The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California considers this site and others like it an important part of their heritage.

Please treat this special area with respect.

Do not make any castings or rubbings or put chalk on the petroglyphs. These procedures will damage the rock surface over time.

Interpretive Marker 2:
More’s Station
The California Gold Rush dramatically changed overland transportation in the American West. Entrepreneurs built a vast network of new roads used by stage and freight companies to service the new mining communities. Henness Pass Road was used in the 1850s for travel to the mining camps along the North and Middle Yuba Rivers. After the Comstock silver strike in 1859, Henness Pass Road was improved to attract travel between San Francisco and Virginia City via Sacramento, Auburn, Nevada (City) and Camptonville.

Wagons were the only way to move people and freight over the Sierra. Transportation companies using Henness Pass Road built way stations or arranged
Welcome to Kyburz Flat Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
2. Welcome to Kyburz Flat Marker
with local ranchers to service passengers and freight traffic, during its 1860’s heyday. More’s Station was a way station and a 320 acre ranch operated by Lysander More and his family.

After the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, traffic on Henness Pass Road dropped off considerably.

Illustrated signs along the trail show the location and remains of the hotel, barn, root cellar, well and corral that were once this thriving way station and ranch.

Interpretive Marker 3:
Henness Pass Road
The heavy Comstock-related traffic led to congestion problems along the bustling Henness Pass Road.

“At calculation we must have passed 2 or 3 hundred teams. Every wagon was heavily freighted, some with merchandise, others with iron castings for the mills, and quite a goodly number with families, fruit, whiskey, and furniture. There were horse teams, and mule teams, and ox teams. I never before saw so many teams on one road, no wonder the dust was so deep!” Journalist J. Ross Brown 1863

Interpretive Marker 4:
More’s Hotel
Two feet beyond this sign once stood a thriving hotel. After a long and dusty day on the road, travelers could find a hearty meal and a place to rest.

Interpretive Marker 5:
More’s Station Well
Way stations were always located
Kyburz Petroglyph (Interpretive Marker 1) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
3. Kyburz Petroglyph (Interpretive Marker 1)
with an eye to water and fuel for cooking and heating.

Five feet beyond this sign you will see an indentation. This was the site of the station’s well and source for fresh water. The well was 40 feet deep. Water had to be hand pumped to the surface as needed.

Interpretive Marker 6:
More’s Barn
A vital place for resting, feeding, and sheltering stock animals and making needed repairs.

Interpretive Marker 7:
The Corral
More used materials he had around him to build this corral. Rocks were cleared and stacked into low rock walls to hold fence posts.

Interpretive Marker 8:
Root Cellar
This root cellar was used to keep food cool. Its thick stone walls and log-earth roof insulated it from the hot summer sun.

Interpretive Marker 9:
Wheeler Sheep Camp
Wheeler Sheep Camp was one of the main sheep camps of the Wheeler Sheep Company based in Reno, Nevada. Sheep camps were the summer based of operation for sheep grazing in the high Sierra meadows. This camp was built and managed by John Martin Gallues, an immigrant for the Basque homeland in Spain. Martin and his brother Felix built several of the camp’s structures before 1921.
Today, the only remaining feature of the sheep camp is the brick oven. Built around 1927, it was used to bake
Original Rock Illistration Displayed on Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
4. Original Rock Illistration Displayed on Marker
Caption:
This is an artists rendition of how the petroglyph whould have appeared before is cracked.
and cook stews. Fresh bread was supplied to the herders every five days. Bread was considered one of the most important items delivered by the camptender. The oven lasted until the early 1980s, when its shed collapsed exposing the oven to the elements.
Eventually the oven also collapsed. During the summer of 1992, Dr. Jose Mallea of the University of Nevada – Reno and other volunteers reconstructed the oven in cooperation with the Tahoe National Forest.
The oven is fully operational and many be reserved for use by the public. If you wish to use the oven, contact the Sierraville Ranger Station at (530) 994-3401.
 
Erected by Tahoe National Forest - National Forest Service.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Native AmericansRoads & VehiclesSettlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Henness Pass series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1859.
 
Location. 39° 30.261′ N, 120° 14.246′ W. Marker is near Sierraville, California, in Sierra County. Marker can be reached from Henness Pass Road (County Route S450) one mile east of California Highway 89 when traveling north. Marker and Intrepative Area are located approximately 11 miles south of Sierraville. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Sierraville CA 96126, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8
Kyburz Petroglyph Marker and Petroglyph Rocks image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
5. Kyburz Petroglyph Marker and Petroglyph Rocks
other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Hobart Mills (approx. 7.8 miles away); a different marker also named Hobart Mills (approx. 7.8 miles away); The Fight to Stay Alive (approx. 9.3 miles away); Donner Camp Tree (approx. 9.4 miles away); Shelter From the Storm (approx. 9.4 miles away); Donner Camp Site (approx. 9.4 miles away); Surviving the Snowy Trek Out (approx. 9.4 miles away); Donner Party Camp at Alder Creek Valley / Tamsen and Elizabeth Donner (approx. 9.4 miles away).
 
Rock With Petroglyph image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
6. Rock With Petroglyph
More's Station (Interpretive Marker #2) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
7. More's Station (Interpretive Marker #2)
More's Station (Interpretive Marker #2) and Site of Hennes Pass Road image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
8. More's Station (Interpretive Marker #2) and Site of Hennes Pass Road
Henness Pass Road Marker is seen on the background.
Henness Pass Road (Interpretive Marker #3) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
9. Henness Pass Road (Interpretive Marker #3)
Henness Pass Road Marker (Interpretive Marker #3) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
10. Henness Pass Road Marker (Interpretive Marker #3)
More's Hotel Marker (Interpretive Marker #4) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
11. More's Hotel Marker (Interpretive Marker #4)
More's Hotel (Interpretive Marker #4) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
12. More's Hotel (Interpretive Marker #4)
More's Station Well (Interpretive Marker #5) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
13. More's Station Well (Interpretive Marker #5)
More's Station Well Marker and Well Site image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
14. More's Station Well Marker and Well Site
More's Station Well Site image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
15. More's Station Well Site
More's Barn (Interpretive Marker #6) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
16. More's Barn (Interpretive Marker #6)
More's Barn Marker and Barn Site image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
17. More's Barn Marker and Barn Site
The Corral Marker (Interpretive Marker #7) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
18. The Corral Marker (Interpretive Marker #7)
The Corral Marker and Corral Site image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
19. The Corral Marker and Corral Site
Ruins of a Rock Fence image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
20. Ruins of a Rock Fence
Root Cellar (Interpretive Marker #8) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
21. Root Cellar (Interpretive Marker #8)
Root Cellar Marker and Root Cellar Ruins image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
22. Root Cellar Marker and Root Cellar Ruins
Root Cellar Ruins image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Syd Whittle, October 14, 2012
23. Root Cellar Ruins
Wheeler Sheep Camp (Interperative Marker 9) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 3, 2013
24. Wheeler Sheep Camp (Interperative Marker 9)
Captions: (left) Camp Layout in the 1930s; (Clockwise from the top left) Bread day, Eugino Murillo; Albert Arellango, Albert Gallues, Hank Gallues, George Arellango; Trading hats for a photo; Irene (Gallues) Ciosi holding (unable to read); Wash day, Margarita Gallues with Albert Gallues; Ernest and Irene Ciosi at the oven in 1943.
Wheeler Sheep Camp image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 3, 2013
25. Wheeler Sheep Camp
Sheep Camp Bread Oven image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 3, 2013
26. Sheep Camp Bread Oven
Edward R. Dunkley memorial plaque image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 3, 2013
27. Edward R. Dunkley memorial plaque
Dedicated to and in Memory of
Edward R. Dunkley
1921- 2001
Through his passion for knowledge about trails used on the western movement in Nevada and California, he was instrumental in redefining this, The Henness Pass Road, and other routes long forgotten but to a few. The hours of research and travel on deadend trails paid off as now you can travel these old routes and imagine the endless wagon trains full of gold seekers and people looking for a new life in the west. Ed was truly a man of the past who looked to the future.
Dedicated by the Sacramento Jeepers on this 28th day of August, 2004
Edward R. Dunkley Memorial Plaque image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 3, 2013
28. Edward R. Dunkley Memorial Plaque
This plaque is located on the More's Station Trail.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on October 27, 2012, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona. This page has been viewed 1,474 times since then and 11 times this year. Last updated on June 16, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on October 27, 2012, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.   7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. submitted on October 31, 2012, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.   13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. submitted on November 4, 2012, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.   24, 25, 26, 27, 28. submitted on June 16, 2013, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.

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Mar. 29, 2024