Hastings (Cutoff) Road 1846

The Hard Way to California

Contributed by Steve F. Russell

Perhaps the biggest fallacy within the system of western trails to California is the Hastings (Cutoff) Road (Hastings Road). It seems that its primary purpose was to give employment and notoriety to Lansford Hastings rather than to provide emigrants and gold seekers with a better route to the Humboldt River. The cutoff is almost entirely within the Great Basin of the western United States, which means mostly desert or semi-desert conditions and mostly poor water.

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Topics

Google Maps Route Center Line Lewis and Clark Trail Oregon-California Trails Lolo Trail Nee-Me-Poo National Historic Trail Mullan Road Trail Inventory Other Bird-Truax Trail Fur Trade Carroll Trail Methodology Old North Trail The Wilderness Road

Contributors

Steve F. Russell Kristopher K. Townsend US National Park Service (LCNHT) Robert H. Dunsmore Richard S. Buswell Merle Wells Larry Jones John (Jack) P. Harlan Martin Plamondon II James D. Harlan Ralph Saunders David and Sue Eakin Raymond Borchers