Google Maps Articles
Lewis and Clark Route
1803–1806: Pittsburgh to Fort Clatsop and return to St. Louis
Archived: 2025
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 James D. Harlan, the Bitterroot Crossing by Steve F. Russell, and Clark on the Yellowstone […]
Lassen Route
1848 California Trails Route
Archived: 2021
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 pioneer the portion of the route from Goose Lake to Vina. The road from Rye […]
Hudspeth Cutoff
California Trails 1849 shortcut
Archived: 2021
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.
1848 Salt Lake Alternate
Archived: 2021
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 quantity of the goods convinced many parties to take this route. The valley also offered […]
Hastings (Cutoff) Road 1846
The Hard Way to California
Archived: 2021
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 […]
Sublette Cutoff (1844 and 1849)
Shortcut on Oregon-California Trails
Archived: 2021
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 first in California. Martin Murphy was an Irish Catholic taking his family to California for […]
California Trail (Bidwell-Bartleson) 1841
"First Wagons to California"
Archived: 2021
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 trail system of routes that evolved during the gold rush and emigration years of the […]
Robert Stuart 1812–13 Return Trip
Precurser to the Oregon-California Trails
Archived: 2021
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 travel through scarcely known country and the need to avoid hostile tribes of Indians. Stuart’s […]
Wilson Hunt’s 1811–12 Astorian Expedition Route
Arikara Villages (South Dakota) to Fort Astoria (Oregon)
Archived: 2021
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 similar to the one planned by the Gaultier brothers, almost 70 years before. The Hunt […]
Clift’s Musselshell to Fort Ellis Military Road
1869 Military Road Exploration
Archived: 2025
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 from White Sulphur Springs to Helena, by way of Duck Creek Pass. This was part […]