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Towns, Trains and Trails of Nevada 2004.

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For Immediate Release: May 22, 2006

Once again emigrants and emigration are in the news. It was not so long ago that newly arrived emigrants in California went off to battle, thus creating the Republic of California. The year was 1846. Since that time, 160 years ago, California has changed, and not always for the better.

When Edwin Bryant jumped off into the unknown in May of 1846, the only thing he did know was that he was part of a huge train of emigrants. Included in this group were names that would go down in history, such as; Graves, Reed, and Donner.

The road to California was a long and tiring journey, there were few, if any, maps available. The main route was up the Platte River Valley, which would lead them to South Pass in present day Wyoming, where they would cross the Continental Divide. There was little or no help along the way, the exception being a few Forts, such as Fort Laramie, Fort Bridger and Fort Hall. Once west of Fort Hall, there was no one… that is until you reached Sutters Fort in California.

As the emigrants pushed westward across present day Nevada they found the trail hot, dry and dusty, and the worse was yet to come. Back in Fort Laramie, Edwin Bryant and his small party traded their wagons for horses and pack mules, and at Fort Bridger turned off onto a new trail, their guide being non-other than Lansford Hastings! When the Bryant party passed through western Nevada, they too would have to make a choice as to which trail to follow, the Truckee Route, or the southern Route (soon to be named the Carson Route). Bryant, like the others behind him, would choose the Truckee route, or California Trail (later to be known as the Donner Route).

Unbeknownst to them, the Applegate brothers were blazing a new trail across northwestern Nevada. Beginning in southern Oregon, the brother pushed southeast across vast tracts of wild country, looking for a new route to Oregon (and northern California). After many weeks on the trail they finally hit the Humboldt River in Nevada. In late 1846 the Applegate Brothers would lead their first group of emigrants across the Applegate Trail, jumping off the California trail just north of present day Lovelock. The trail, if you could call it that, had never seen a wagon before this day, so that first party had to break trail. Winding nearly due west, their first watering stop would be Antelope Springs, some 15 miles out. From there it was on to Rabbit Hole Springs, which was just that, two rabbit holes with water seeping out of them. This first train, like those to come in the future, would have to dig these holes out in order to water their animals. Leaving Rabbit Hole the emigrants would now swing to the north, ahead of them lye a large black rock they would use to navigate their way across open country, country that contained no grass, no water, and no shade for the weary. At the base of that black rock is, like today, a large hot spring, where after driving some fifty miles since leaving the California Trail, they would find water and grass.

The Applegate Trail would play a major part in the western migration that was to come in 1847, and again in 1849, when the “49ers” made their way west in search of gold. In that year, a man named Peter Lassen (as in Mount Lassen & Lassen State Park) decided he too could guide emigrants west to his ranch in California. To accomplish this, he would use the Applegate Trail to cross Nevada, once in California he would swing south for his ranch… thus the trail would take on a new name, the Applegate-Lassen Trail.

Today the Applegate-Lassen Trail is no different than it was in 1849. The watering holes, the long grades, the open deserts, the graves, the high walled canyons, are still there today. While all those dead oxen, which numbered in the thousands, have since turned to dust. The dust too is still there, so little if any has changed in 160 years.

Join us Aug 18-20, 2006 for Applegate-Lassen Trail ride 1846-2006 History Re-visited.

Join us for this adventure back in time. This is History lesson... we'll sightsee the watering holes they stopped at as they trekked across Northern Nevada; see emigrant graffiti carved into rock walls; and see wagon wheel tracks still visible on the trail today! We may stumble across a grave of a lady who died in childbirth in the 1860s. Like those before us, we'll have to camp along the way, in 2004 we camped near the grave of Peter Lassen (Note: on the first night we can stay at a B&B, but reservations need to be made months ahead of time, if not we camp on the trail at least one night, but maybe two… it all depends on the speed of the group).

Children are welcome. You'll be required to bring food, water and additional gas. This is not an off-road event, but a rolling History Lesson, though you'll need a 4WD to transverse the trail. Like those 160 year before you, the trail can be rough in some sections, and easy going in others.

Space is limited...     Price is $200.00 per car. To reserve your spot in this emigrant train, please call or email

Other fun off-road excursions are…
July   22-23     Midas-Tuscarora-Jarbidge-Elko Excursion.
Sept    15-17    Winnemucca/Elko Excursion Ghost Towns, incl. Railroad History.
Nov    4-5         Winnemucca Excursion Ghost Towns, Related, Railroad History