Google Maps Articles
1848 Carson River Road
Archived: 2026
This route was made into a wagon road in 1848 by the Mormon Battalion on their way to Salt Lake City from California. They left Placerville with 17 wagons and worked the existing trail so it would pass wagons. The eastern terminus of the trail was its junction with the Truckee Trail, east of Humboldt […]
1848 Burnett Cutoff
Archived: 2026
The 1848 Burnett Cutoff was used when traveling between western Oregon and northern California. It was a shortcut between the Lassen (California) and Applegate (Oregon) Trails. Map files: KML | KMZ Static Map
1846 Mormon Pioneer Trail
Archived: 2026
Leaving from Omaha/Council Bluffs in 1846, the Mormon Pioneers used this route to go from Council Bluffs to the Great Salt Lake Valley. They stayed on the north side of the Platte River moving westward to Fort Laramie. They then crossed to the south side of the Platte to continue on the original 1845 Oregon […]
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 […]