Emigrant Trail - Truckee River Route, NV

This BLM marker is located at the Wadsworth, NV rest stop 45 miles east of Reno, located just off I-80 westbound. It looks like the survey disc may be a transplant, as it's bolted to the marker and a piece of the original railroad, I presume, detailing the Emigrant Trail Truckee River Route. Emigrant Trail Historical Reference Excerpt from Wikipedia:


"The Truckee Trail (established 1844 by the Stephens-Murphy wagon train) over the Sierra Nevada took about 50 miles (80 km) to cross Forty Mile Desert but it did have a hot springs in about the middle that could be used for water if you pooled it off and waited for the 'bad' water to cool. After hitting the Truckee River just as it turned almost due north towards Pyramid Lake near today's Wadsworth, Nevada the emigrants were across the dreaded Forty Mile Desert. The emigrants blessed the Truckee's cool and sweet tasting water, fresh grass and the cool shade from the first trees (cottonwoods) the emigrants had seen in hundreds of miles. The travelers often rested themselves and their animals for a few days before proceeding. Real shade, grass for their animals and no more bitter, soapy tasting Humboldt river water were much appreciated. The Truckee Trail followed the Truckee River past present day Reno, Nevada (then called Big Meadows) and went west till near the present Nevada-California border they encountered Truckee Canyon. This canyon was one of the paths across the Carson Range of mountains. This steep, narrow, rock filled canyon could be traversed by wagons but required about 27 crossings of the cold Truckee river and much prying and shoving to get wagons and teams over the rocks to proceed up the canyon.In 1845 Caleb Greenwood and his three sons developed a new route that by-passed Truckee River Canyon by leaving the river near the present town of Verdi, Nevada and following a ravine northwest over a 6,200 feet (1,900 m) pass across the Carson Range (followed today by the Henness Pass Road) and down to Dog Valley and from there southwest down through the present Stampede and Prosser Creek Reservoirs before rejoining the Truckee trail near today's Truckee, California. This was about ten mile (16 km) longer route but it avoided most of the continual crossings of the rock filled Truckee river and became the main route for the "Truckee Trail." Initially, the trail passed to the north of Lake Tahoe and then followed Donner Creek to the north side of Donner Lake before ascending the precipitous climb north of the lake to Donner Pass."

2018-07-14 HAZ_Hikebot