Steve F. Russell

In 1869, Captain E. W. Clift explored Montana Territory for the location of a wagon road from the mouth of the Mussellshell River, on the Missouri River, to Fort Ellis. He also explored an alternate of the route that went…

Several researchers have contributed to the making of this Lewis and Clark Trail center line—an approximation of the route the Expedition followed in 1803–1806. Very roughly, the Ohio River section was created by Kristopher K. Townsend, the Missouri River by…

Early explorers often created field maps, called “skeleton maps,” to illustrate the trails or routes followed and the geographic landmarks that helped define their locations. Following are twenty route segments that make up the trails to California. These trail routes…

This Summary Research Report, with GPS data and an abstract of the route, documents the Hudspeth Cutoff wagon road of the California Trail in Idaho. The research is based on historical maps and travelers’ journals and diaries.

In 1811–1812, Wilson Hunt lead an expedition from the Arikara Villages, on the Missouri River in South Dakota, to the newly-established Fort Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. In a major sense, Hunt would be traveling a route…

Robert Stuart was the leader of an expedition that traveled from the newly established Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River to St. Louis, Missouri in 1812–13. Stuart and his party were successful in their attempt, despite their…

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…

Aliases: Hensley’s Salt Lake Alternate This alternate route from Salt Lake City to the Walker/Humboldt River Road became popular when the Mormon settlers of the Great Salt Lake Valley began to resupply goods to the California emigrants. The quality and…

The Bidwell-Bartleson Party of 1841 was the first to attempt to travel by wagon train from Missouri to California (then owned by Mexico). Their general route was over what we now call the California Trail. This “route” is actually a…

The Sublette Cutoff was pioneered in 1844 by the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party. Their captain was Elisha Stephens, a mountain man and beaver trapper. Their guide was mountain man Caleb Greenwood. John Townsend was a physician that would become one of the…

Aliases: Lassen Trail, Applegate Trail (Rye Patch Reservoir to Goose Lake) This was a route from the Humboldt River at Rye Patch Reservoir to Vina, California via Goose Lake on the California-Oregon border. In actuality, Peter Lassen only had to…

The Gaultier Brother’s Expedition through North and South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska in 1742–1743. Based on a journal, written by Francois Gaultier, Chevalier of the Verendrye, and his brother Pierre Gaultier, documenting an Expedition to reach the Western Sea, addressed…

This center line of the 1845 Barlow Road is a draft from Steve Russell worthy of sharing with the general public. As of this date, Russell has not offered any commentary on this map. In 1996 and 2002, Jim Tompkins…

This is one of a series of trail research reports that Steve F. Russell is producing for public use. It is a summary of his research and contains only a map set and GPS waypoint data set. His usual coverage…

KML file for Google Earth, russell-nez-perce.kml The Nez Perce 1877 Campaign Center Line is one of a series of trail research reports that Steve F. Russell is producing for public use. It is a summary of his research and contains…

This map shows the most significant Western watershed boundaries in the United States, the Great Continental Divide, and the Great Basin Divide. These watershed boundaries were drawn with great accuracy based on USGS topographic maps. Water does not flow out…

Notes for the 1836 Original Map of the Northwest Fur Country by Warren A. Ferris from “Life in the Rocky Mountains,” Western Literary Messenger, Buffalo, NY, (Series) 13 July 1842 – 4 May 1844.

Steve F. Russell has edited and produced the letters and journal of the 1874 Trip from Fort Shaw to Camp Lewis by Captain Constant Williams and Company F of the 7th U.S. Infantry. In April and May of 1874, Williams…

In July of 1806, Meriwether Lewis and a small group of men from the Corps of Discovery main party, traveled eastward from Travelers Rest Camp, following the main Indian trail up the Big Blackfoot River in Montana. On July 5,…

Lord Selkirk’s (Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk) Land Grant of 116,000 Square Miles, known as Assiniboia, Including the Forts, was mapped in 1817. This land grant was in Canada and North Dakota and included the Red River of the…

This brief monograph addresses the methodology Steve Russell has developed for finding historic trails and wagon roads. Trying to describe a process that has been developed using science, inference, and intuition is difficult because it involves so many variables and…

The Idaho Governor’s Lewis and Clark Committee presentation covers the location, documentation, and preservation of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail over the Bitterroot Mountains. This report includes photos and maps.

Scholarly research on historic trails with original journals, original maps, and modern field work (camping out all summer). Work with state, federal, Tribal, and historic preservation agencies. High-accuracy GIS results using ARCVIEW and precision GPS. Natural history documentation: geology, plants,…

In 2001 and 2002, Steve F. Russell and survey assistants, Theo Petersen and Matt Battani, hiked the trail followed by Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery from Lolo Pass, Idaho-Montana to Weippe, Idaho. This trail tread was recorded…

Lewis and Clark Trail: In Their Footsteps presents the research results and methods of Steve F. Russell, Historic Trails Research, Ames, Iowa. Presented at the Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana by invitation of the Headwaters Chapter of the Lewis…

This document is a research report on the salmon fishing expedition of Sgt. John Ordway of the Corps of Discovery under the command on Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. This route and the effort of Ordway remained largely unnoticed until…

The Lolo Trail National Historic Landmark Composite Topographic maps document the research status for the trail treads and campsites along the Lolo Trail National Historic Landmark in 2002.

Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior relating to the Virginia City, Montana–Lewiston, Idaho Wagon Road, 1865-1870 Complied from the file microcopies of records of the National Archives No. 95, Roll 13. This is the first research…

This report is one of five research reports that were compiled into a document entitled: “The Mystery of Lost Trail Pass,” James Fazio, Ed, 2000. It describes in detail how the researcher analyzed the Lewis and Clark Journals and the…

Fascination with the route and camping places of Lewis and Clark has remained strong for more than 100 years. With the approaching bicentennial of the Corps of Discovery, this interest is only intensifying. What is more, increasing numbers of people…

This campsite is well know to the Lewis and Clark Trail community. It was a popular camping place for Salish, Nez Perce, and early Explorers. The location was at the junction of the Lolo Trail (from Lolo, Montana to Kamiah,…

George Benson Nicholson was the civil engineer for the survey of the Virginia City and Lewiston Wagon Road project in 1866. Nicholson did two surveys, a course and distance survey of the Northern Nez Perces Trail (NNT) and a stake…

This is the 1996 Progress Report of the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail Foundation.

On the Clearwater and Lolo National Forests, in the mountains of Northern Idaho and Western Montana, there is an ancient trail system that has been used for hundreds of years as a land bridge between the Columbia River basin and…

Research has been completed on the topographic location of the Bird-Truax Trail—also called the Lolo Trail of 1866. This index documents the route and place names for future researchers. The database will be continually updated to improve its quality. Route…

This paper documents the history and geographical location of the Bird-Truax Trail surveyed in 1866 which was the mountainous segment of the planned Virginia City and Lewiston Wagon Road that was never built. This wagon road was a federally-funded project…

The Lolo Trail is a mountain trail in Northern Idaho that ranks second only to the Oregon Trail and the Mullan Wagon Road in its importance to Northwest U.S. History. Due to its remoteness, it may also be the most…

This is a transcribed copy of the microfilm records of the Virginia City and Lewiston Wagon Road project of 1865-1870 by the federal government. Wellington Bird was the project supervisor and disbursing agent and George Benson Nicholson was the civil…

The Carroll Trail was a wagon road for transporting goods from Carroll Landing on the Missouri River to Helena, Montana. Part 1 explains the basic facts about the trail and answers anticipated reader questions. Part 2 describes the 1875 trip…

The Carroll Trail was a wagon road for transporting goods from Carroll Landing on the Missouri River to Helena, Montana. This version is slightly abridged. Part 1 explains the basic facts about the trail and answers anticipated reader questions. Part…