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

Contributors

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