Oregon-California Trails Articles
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 […]
1841–52 Trails to California
Skeleton Maps and Trail Descriptions
Archived: 2021
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 evolved as travel needs, and destinations, changed. Travelers frequently exchanged route information with others so […]
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 […]
Barlow Road Center Line
Across the Cascades
Archived: 2020
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 of the Oregon-California Trails Association published a self-guided tour. In it, Tompkins introduces the road: […]