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California Trail Historical Markers
This Trail carried people to California following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. Westward to western Wyoming it shares much of its route with the Pony Express Trail, the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Pioneer Trail, and the Union Pacific route of the Transcontinental Railroad. This series includes California Road markers that highlight the southern routes from Arkansas through Indian Territory westward to the California gold fields.
First Overland Emigrant Party
"Left the river on account of the hills which obstructed our way on it, ... Road uncommonly broken, did not reach the river, distance about 4 miles" -- John Bidwell, Saturday, August 14, 1841
"We traveled about . . . — — Map (db m105832) HM
This was a major campground in the days of the California Gold Rush after Hudspeth's Cutoff brought the trail by here in 1849
Except in wet seasons, there was no water for 22 miles to the east. Parties often had to travel late into . . . — — Map (db m124142) HM
Twin Springs is an oasis amid rolling hills of sagebrush; or as the early pioneers described "an endless sea of Artemisia". Wildlife, birds and people are drawn to Twin Springs' still water and rich grasses. Indigenous people traveled this valley . . . — — Map (db m124144) HM
Early California and Oregon Trail Ruts -- left by thousands of emigrant wagons as they ascended this bluff -- still are visible below this viewpoint.
In 1859 F.W. Lander's wagon road builders dug and improved grade that shows more clearly. . . . — — Map (db m123842) HM
The Council Bluffs area was the scene of such important events in Iowa history as the explorations of Lewis and Clark, the Mormon Trail, the Missouri River steamboat traffic and the railroad industry. Francois Guittar established the first white . . . — — Map (db m224579) HM
The Council Bluffs area was the scene of such important events in Iowa history as the explorations of Lewis and Clark, the Mormon Trail, the Missouri River steamboat traffic and the railroad industry. Francois Guittar established the first white . . . — — Map (db m224580) HM
From the early 1840s to 1865 the Oregon-California Trail was the most important route for settlers traveling west. Wagon trains camped at the Iowa, Sac and Fox Mission to take advantage of the spring and the blacksmith. They were followed in the . . . — — Map (db m47930) HM
Heavy freight wagons lumbering to and from New Mexico, and emigrant families and gold seekers heading west to Oregon and California all shared this route from Independence and Kansas City. The trails split here at Gardner Junction.
Preserving . . . — — Map (db m131353) HM
From the late 1820s to the 1870s, an estimated 300,000 fur traders, missionaries, settlers, and gold seekers followed these trails. In the 1840s and 1850s, emigrants from the eastern and central United States walked 2,000 miles from the Missouri . . . — — Map (db m131376) HM
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 required that many American Indian Tribes in the eastern part of the United States be moved to the Great Plains Region west of the Missouri River — lands identified as the “Permanent Indian Frontier.” . . . — — Map (db m131313) HM
"This morning we passed the road to Oregon that leaves, about eight miles from Round Grove, the Santa Fe Road, and turns to the right towards the Kansas. A way post had been put there, marked "Road to Oregon." —Dr. Frederick A. . . . — — Map (db m131352) HM
"We took the Oregon road, instead of that to Santa Fe and went twelve miles before we discovered our error. In returning two of our wagons broke down, by which we were detained two days until July 4th. We at last got fairly on the Santa Fe . . . — — Map (db m131312) HM
Travel along the Oregon and California trails increased in the 1840s with the cry of “Westward Ho.” When the 1848 discovery of gold was made at Sutter’s Mill in California, the desire to reach the gold fields ahead of others intensified . . . — — Map (db m131310) HM
Here US-56 lies directly on the route of the Oregon-California and Santa Fe trails. Nearby, the trails branched. On a rough sign pointing northwest were the words, "Road to Oregon." Another marker directed travelers southwest along the road to Santa . . . — — Map (db m21669) HM
For over three decades starting in 1827, Elm Grove Campground, one mile east of near the bridge on Cedar Creek, was an important frontier camp site. Thousands of Santa Fe traders, Oregon and California emigrants, missionaries, mountain men, . . . — — Map (db m20093) HM
Lone Elm is one of the most historic and important frontier trail camp sites in America and was used as a campground and rendezvous point for all three of our nation's great western roads to the frontier.....the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California . . . — — Map (db m34334) HM
The Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail began in 1821 when William Becknell led a small group of men on a trading expedition from frontier Missouri to colonial Santa Fe. Mexico had recently declared its independence from Spain and abolished . . . — — Map (db m34340) HM
The oxen and Conestoga wagon sculpture was originally commissioned in 1994 for use at the Kansas Visitors Center at 119th & Strang Line Road. When the Center closed in 2002 the sculpture was awarded to the City of Olathe. The sculpture has been . . . — — Map (db m34337) HM
You are traveling in the path of countless men, women, and children who passed this very home in the 1860s! When you turned into the parking lot, you pulled off the Westport Route of the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails. And now, you're . . . — — Map (db m34470) HM
Buck and Tip, the Mahaffie oxen, are four years old. They are accurately called "oxen" now that they have reached maturity. Until they reach four years of age, young oxen-in-training are properly referred to as working steers. Weighing in about . . . — — Map (db m34514) HM
[Inset]
"from 'Sappling Grove' where there is an excellent fountain spring & a very good place to camp.. The road runs a little round on the high ridge."
The Santa Fe Trail began in 1821 when William Becknell and a small . . . — — Map (db m100228) HM
The Santa Fe Trail forked into two routes as it headed south from Westport. Along the routes were campgrounds for trail travelers — to the northeast of the junction was Sapling Grove and the southwest was a campground called Flat Rock or . . . — — Map (db m100264) HM
Imagine seeing Santa Fe Trail wagon trains coursing through Overland Park! Around you swirls the sights and sounds of wagons creaking, oxen braying, and wagon masters shouting commands. You are standing between two historic branches of the Santa . . . — — Map (db m99307) HM
The Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails proved to be both challenging and exhilarating for the travelers in the caravans passing through this junction along one of the Westport routes. Letters and diaries are filled with adventures and . . . — — Map (db m100260) HM
The California Road
Originally a trail through the lands of the Shawnee Indians, running west from Westport through present day Johnson and Douglas Counties, this route was used throughout the 1830's and 1840's by Indians, missionaries, and . . . — — Map (db m50612) HM
Located today at 59th Terrace and Bluejacket in the city of Shawnee, Gum Springs was the site of the Shawnee Indian church and meeting house, as well as the location of several excellent springs, all near the intersection of the Fort Leavenworth . . . — — Map (db m50693) HM
The Santa Fe Trail went through two decades of change in the Kansas City area before evolving into it's final form by about 1840. In the early years of that decade it also became the route of the Oregon Trail and California Trail.
1821 - . . . — — Map (db m50679) HM
Westport
Westport, along with Independence, was a major outfitting point for the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails. Founded in 1834 by John C. McCoy and platted around the trading post he built the previous year, Westport's early . . . — — Map (db m50723) HM
Westward bound settlers crossed and traveled the Frontier Military Road as they headed to new land and new lives. These migrants faced the unknown with anxiety and anticipation in search of a better life. The Sante Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail and . . . — — Map (db m33942) HM
To cross the high western mountains before the fall snow storms arrived, many emigrant wagon trains headed for the Oregon or California territories left Independence, Missouri, in mid April to early May. The downside to leaving too early often . . . — — Map (db m79152) HM
The water is of the most excellent kind. The spring is surrounded with Ash Cotton wood and Cedar trees. It is an excellent place to camp for a day or two to wash, recruit the cattle etc. I this day cut the name of the spring in the rock on . . . — — Map (db m79134) HM
Alcove Spring Park consists of more than 200 acres of native prairie and timber land maintained for the preservation of this historic camping ground on the Oregon-California trail and for the enjoyment of our visitors. The park is owned . . . — — Map (db m79116) HM
Six miles northwest is Alcove Springs, named in 1846 by appreciative travelers on the Oregon trail who carved the name on the surrounding rocks and trees. One described the Springs as "a beautiful cascade of water... altogether one of the most . . . — — Map (db m79113) HM
Stranded by heavy flood waters on the bank of the Big Blue River, 100 members of the Donner and Reed Wagon Train waited for several days anticipating that the spring runoff would begin to subside. Sarah Keyes, James Reed's mother-in-law, . . . — — Map (db m79137) HM
Apprx. 6 1/2 miles south on East River Road. A campsite on the Oregon - California Trail named by the Reed Donner party of 1846. Burial site of
Sarah Keyes of that party. Also used as early as 1820 by fur trappers and missionaries. — — Map (db m253384) HM
This road began in St. Joseph, MO and joined the Independence Road just west of Marysville, KS. These two roads formed the Oregon - California Trail. Emigrants pioneered this branch in 1844 and used it until about 1865. — — Map (db m253385) HM
The reservoir before you taps into the famous Scott Spring. The original outlet emanates from the base of a steep rock hill to the east. The refreshing water of Scott Spring offered abundant drinking water to many travelers on the Oregon Trail and . . . — — Map (db m80945) HM
From the 1830's to the 1870's, the 2,000-mile road connecting Missouri river towns with California and Oregon was America's greatest transcontinental highway. Several routes led west from the river, converging into one trail by the time the Fort . . . — — Map (db m80927) HM
Hollenberg's Land- Gerat Hollenberg acquired 160 acres of land in 1857 or 1858. He bought it with a land warrant given by the United States government to a veteran of the War of 1812.
1. Hollenberg Station - The building also was known as . . . — — Map (db m253083) HM
Transportation is the movement of people or goods from one location to another. Long before the Europeans first came to this area in the 1500s, the native peoples were engaged in transportation. On foot they followed trails that had been cut by . . . — — Map (db m253088) HM
Renowned city of the Pony Express, St. Joseph was first settled as a trading post for the American Fur Company by Joseph Robidoux, 1826. Later he acquired the site and laid out a town in 1843.
St. Joseph became an outfitting point for . . . — — Map (db m4989) HM
After the 1848 discovery of gold in California, more than 100,000 sturdy Americans passed through St. Joseph on their way west in quest of wealth, opportunity and better lives. The "Gold Rush" began and those who followed the "Star of Empire" . . . — — Map (db m47479) HM
Each spring thousands of emigrants camped in these hills and meadows waiting for new grass to support their teams along the trail. Wagons lined St. Joseph streets to the east waiting for two to three days to be ferried from this point. The settlers . . . — — Map (db m47467) HM
Hiram Young came to Missouri as an enslaved African American. He earned his freedom step by step. First he purchased his wife Matilda's freedom in the early 1840s. For children to be free, they had to be born to a free mother. The Youngs welcomed . . . — — Map (db m208243) HM
Being at leisure one day, I rode over to Independence [from Westport, in May 1846]. The town was crowded. A multitude of shops had sprang up to furnish the emigrants and Santa Fe traders with necessaries for the journey; and there was an . . . — — Map (db m208146) HM
The entire country had railroad fever in the 1830s, with the dream that one day a railroad might span the continent! In Independence merchants needed to move goods between the town square and the Wayne City steamboat landing on the Missouri River - . . . — — Map (db m208135) HM
People on steamboats loaded with goods traveled upstream on the Missouri River "highway" to Independence, where the overland journey on the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails began. Between March and November, steamboats passed by or stopped . . . — — Map (db m208241) HM
The Santa Fe Trail began in 1821 when William Becknell took trade items west and found a ready market in Mexico. He passed through this area before the village of Independence was platted in 1827 as the county seat for newly formed Jackson County. . . . — — Map (db m208242) HM
Near this point John McCoy built a log trading post in 1833 which launched the settlement of Westport, with the town becoming the westernmost point of American civilization. From Westport, the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trails reached out as . . . — — Map (db m21064) HM
From the late 1830s and into the 1860s, thousands of traders, emigrants, and gold prospectors passed this way. After crossing the Big Blue River, covered wagons struggled up this hill due to the mud left behind from torrential spring downpours. Over . . . — — Map (db m199357) HM
(This marker has two panels. From the left panel:)
Key Map
Traveling across this bridge, the fourth Red Bridge near this location since 1859, you may notice art panels attached to each of the large pillars that rise at both . . . — — Map (db m210568) HM
Public/private partnerships preserve three National Historic Trails in south Kansas City, highlighting 19th century exploration and migration that shaped the nation. In the heart of the historic 3-Trails Corridor, the Trailside Center at East . . . — — Map (db m199522) HM
Visiting the Trails Today
The Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails had a significant role in the history of the United States and have been designated by Congress as National Historic Trails. The National Park Service partners with site . . . — — Map (db m199379) HM
Why Did The Historic Trails Go Where They Went?
When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, trade with the United States soon followed. William Becknell and five companions from the Franklin, Missouri area were the first to use . . . — — Map (db m199377) HM
New Santa Fe, also known as Little Santa Fe, was not much more than an Indian settlement when the first wagon trains passed through on the Santa Fe Trail in the early 1820's. A popular stopping place because of its grass, water and room for . . . — — Map (db m20724) HM
(limestone marker)
"A Highway Between Nations"
Sen. Thomas Hart Benton, 1825
(red granite marker)
Santa Fe Trail
1821 - 1872
Marked by the
Daugters of the
American Revolution
and the
State of Missouri
1909 . . . — — Map (db m20610) HM
Sometimes muddy, often dusty, the shared track of the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails once passed this way. Teamsters created this route, urging heavy freight wagons to and from New Mexico. In the 1840s-50s, pioneer families traveled this . . . — — Map (db m251721) HM
Susan C. Haile was born December 20, 1817, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She was the youngest child of Joseph and Prudence (Bledsoe) Seawell, natives of Sumner County, Tennessee. Upon the death of Joseph in 1819, Prudence Seawell returned to Sumner . . . — — Map (db m123807) HM
This boulder erected 1912 by
Omaha Chapter Daughters of the
American Revolution to mark
the California Trail 1849
later called the Military Road — — Map (db m265479) HM
Honored historian and map maker of the Oregon-California Trail which passed this way. With his wife, Helen, he explored and recorded trail remains and shared his knowledge with a legion of trail followers. Dedicated August 17, 1985 . . . — — Map (db m315328) HM
Narcissa Whitman, trail-blazer and martyred missionary, is one of the great heroines of the frontier West. In 1836 she and Eliza Spalding, following the north side of the Platte on horseback, became the first white women to cross the American . . . — — Map (db m223469) HM
On the morning of August 8, 1864, a war party of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians attacked a Denver-bound freight wagon train killing thirteen men and taking captive Nancy Jane Morton of Sidney, Iowa, and nine-year old Daniel Marble of Council Bluffs, . . . — — Map (db m294410) HM
During the nineteenth century the United States underwent a dramatic westward expansion, but perhaps no single event stimulated this mass migration more than the 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in California. Hundreds of thousands of . . . — — Map (db m206659) HM
Johnson Cutoff - A New Road
"Strike the river and campt on the bank... near the junction of the roads... The left is the old Carson Road. The right is Johnsons Cut Off a new road... we take the cut off... across the valley to Eagle Ranch 4 . . . — — Map (db m264678) HM
"We continued on following the river. The main road leaving the river for 12 miles. Over a strip of desert without grass or water the road along the river being a pack route and impracticable for wagons" - Calvin Taylor, Sep 17, 1850 — — Map (db m159073) HM
"Ragtown...is a collection of tents and canvass shanties, where a tolerable meal can be had at one dollar a head. Whiskey is sold, cards are played, gambling pretty extensively carried on and hay sold" - Henry Sheldon Anable, Sep 1, 1852 — — Map (db m159072) HM
"Passing out of the canyon we went up [Edwards Creek] Valley between two ranges of mountains ... to Cold Springs where we ... prepared for crossing the sixty mile desert by cutting grass and fillings our kegs with water" - Lumin A. Scott, Aug 29, . . . — — Map (db m159358) HM
"Sand Springs is a station on...the overland stage road...a few rough poles stuck in the sand and covered with the cloth...several holes have been shoveled out of the sand These are the springs....warm and unwholesome" - William C. Moss, Aug . . . — — Map (db m261790) HM
"Long before sunrise our teams were on the trail marching forward on the desert. Very little to note save the dust & brightness of the glittering sand. Now & then a grave, little donage & dead stock." - John Clark of Virginia, Aug 21, 1852 — — Map (db m149414) HM
Whichever direction your travels take you, you're going to have a similar experience to what the California-bound emigrants had. You're going to see the same country, except for the towns and the ranch meadows. The big difference, though, is that . . . — — Map (db m67359) HM
The 40 Mile Desert, beginning here, is a barren stretch of waterless alkali wasteland. It was the most dreaded section of the California Emigrant Trail. If possible, it was traveled by night because of the great heat.
The route was first . . . — — Map (db m67348) HM
Look at the barren country south of here just beyond this Rest Stop. This is the Forty-Mile Desert--a barren stretch of waterless alkali wasteland. It was the single-most dreaded section of the entire California Trail from the banks of the Missouri . . . — — Map (db m67357) HM
Truckee Trail - Forks of the Trail
"Continued along a slue to the foot of a small hill. Here
the roads fork, the left hand being the Carson Route, the
right the Truckee...Bidding adieu to the Humboldt & sink passed up the hill to the . . . — — Map (db m264210) HM
“A gradual ascent [rough road], the latter portion in a ravine [of Clear Creek], to the top of a ridge [at Spooner Summit].”
- William Bartlett [Bartlett’s Guide], Aug 13, 1853
Guidebook Available
Trails West Inc. P.O. Box 12045 Reno . . . — — Map (db m224084) HM
Whichever direction your travels take you, you’re going to have a similar experience to what the California-bound immigrants had. You’re going to see the same country, except for the towns and ranch meadows. The big difference, though, is that . . . — — Map (db m98183) HM
"We passed around a barren portion of the mountain, where there gushed from the base... almost a thousand springs of hot water in half a mile,... The springs form a hot water lake all along their course." - William R. Rothwell, Aug 18, 1850 — — Map (db m99871) HM
"At the... foot of the mountains, the Mormons... have established a trading post.... Passing on from this place, as fast as we could,... to save what money we had, we continued up Carson Valley" - Edward Patterson, Jul 11, 1850 — — Map (db m99870) HM
You’re now standing at the western edge of the Great Basin. If you were an emigrant headed to California, you would have entered the Great Basin 450 miles back along the trail in southern Idaho, or 500 miles back in Salt Lake City if you had . . . — — Map (db m98142) HM
"We soon entered the lower end of Carson Valley. The steep mountains on our right, are thickly covered with pines... on the east side of the valley, the mountains present no green thing; all is naked and dreary." - Franklin Langworthy, Oct. 9, 1850 — — Map (db m99867) HM
"The trail, on leaving camp, entered a strip of upland, covered with wild sage and brush and through which run several mountain streams of much beauty." - Silas Newcomb, Aug 28, 1850 — — Map (db m99819) HM
"We have to cross the river four times... on each side of you there is a perpendicular wall of vast rock... overhanging the road so one has a feeling very near bordering on fear as he passes under those precipices" -- Lewis Beers, Aug 3, 1852 — — Map (db m149731) HM
“The trail or road… ascends a considerable hill 1/3 mile ahead of us… the water here is cool, but too alkaline to be agreeable. Hot Springs in the river-bank, sulphur, &c.” —
J. Goldborough Bruff, Sep 7, 1849 . . . — — Map (db m81179) HM
Whichever direction your travels take you, you're going to have a similar experience to what the California-bound emigrants had. You're going to see the same country, except for the towns and the ranch meadows. The big difference, though, is that . . . — — Map (db m67507) HM
Whichever direction your travels take you, you're going to have a similar experience to what the California-bound emigrants had. You're going to see the same country, except for the towns and the ranch meadows. The big difference, though, is that . . . — — Map (db m146802) HM
About two miles southwest of this marker, the Greenhorn Cutoff ascended and wound through the hills for about twelve miles to avoid river crossings in Carlin Canyon. — — Map (db m70353) HM
Centuries of water runoff from mountain peaks cut channels through Nevada's mountain formations and deserts, creating river corridors that support a variety of wildlife and plants. One such river is the Humboldt, which flows across most of northern . . . — — Map (db m146801) HM
This site is approximately 2½ miles from the Humboldt wagon trail. Hoppe-Lienhard traveled west with the Harlan-Young wagon train in 1847 to Fort Sutter. History reveals this party was part of the group which was responsible for the California . . . — — Map (db m67461) HM
California Trail ruts and swales wind across Northern Nevada some touched only by the forces of nature since they were made by emigrant wagon trains on their way west in the mid 1800s.
Many of these irreplaceable historic trail segments lie on . . . — — Map (db m67505) HM
You are at the entrance to The National California Emigrant Trail Interpretive Center. The purpose of the center is to gather and display historical knowledge about the emigrants who made the trek to California in the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. . . . — — Map (db m67509) HM
Across the valley you can see the canyon of the South Fork River, a major tributary to the Humboldt River. This portal is also the western end of the infamous Hastings Cutoff, which rejoined the main California Trail not far from the California . . . — — Map (db m67506) HM
The California Emigrant Trail extended approximately 2,000 miles from the Missouri River to California. Today you are standing on a segment of the trail that followed the Humboldt River for about 280 miles across northern Nevada. It was the only . . . — — Map (db m67508) HM
Across the Humboldt Valley southward from this point a deeply incised canyon is seen opening into the valley. Through that canyon along the South Fork of the Humboldt ran the disaster-laden route called the Hastings Cutoff. It joined the regular . . . — — Map (db m67460) HM
"We had to descend a bad hill to get down to the creek, where we nooned near some well springs." -- Byron McKinstry, Aug 10, 1850
Guidebook available
Trails West Inc, P.O. Box 12045 Reno NV 89510 — — Map (db m138454) HM
The numerous valleys of Nevada have supported a vigorous cattle industry since the 1850's. Beginning in the western part of the state, cattlemen ranged their herds throughout northern Nevada by the 1870's. The completion of the transcontinental . . . — — Map (db m149718) HM
You have arrived at this place by driving east on Interstate Highway 80. Did you know that since entering Nevada you have been traveling along the route of the historic California Trail? From 1843 to 1869, an estimated 250,000 people made the trek . . . — — Map (db m67441) HM
Whichever direction your travels take you, you're going to have a similar experience to what the California-bound emigrants had. You're going to see the same country, except for the towns and the ranch meadows. The big difference, though, is that . . . — — Map (db m67440) HM
7 miles southeast of here was a favorite pioneer crossing of the Humboldt River, Gravely Ford. Campsite of the Donner Party, here occurred the Snyder-Reed fight, as Snyder lashed at Reed he missed and hit Reed's wife. Reed then killed Snyder. Reed . . . — — Map (db m67443) HM
