We are continuing our California pioneer (southern route) Lincoln Highway tour, which starts at Stateline, Nevada, and now takes us west on Pioneer Trail or the Lincoln Highway back in 1913. You can read about the Stateline start of our adventure here.
Map showing bridge site, Lincoln Highway, and Stateline, Nevada. Click map for larger view.
Before Pioneer Trail was the Lincoln Highway and earlier county wagon road, it was part of the famed Johnson Cut-Off Trail, which brought emigrants and others over Spooner Summit in Nevada and into the Lake Tahoe Valley. Like later highway travelers, the pioneers were headed towards Echo Summit and over Johnson’s Pass, the final mountain obstacle in their travels.
The 1907 Trout Creek Bridge, with present day Pioneer Trail and autos above
We can see the old bridge and the modern-day Pioneer Trail Road on the upper right in the photo above. You can also see a large metal culvert in the center-left top of the photo. The Creek has been moved east by about 50 yards to pass under the newer bridge. No water passes under the older bridge these days.
Trails West “T” marker at Trout Creek.
On the opposite side of Bear Creek Road, The Trail West Organization has placed one of their historic “T” markers. On these markers is an excerpt from an emigrant diary about this particular location. We can see the excerpt from William Wirt Gilbert’s 1853 diary describing this place in the photo above. He sees the first signs of gold mining since reaching Calfornia here at Trout Creek.
Satellite photo showing bridge and surrounding features. Click photo for larger view.
In the satellite photo above, we can see the Trails West “T” Marker, the bridge, and just west of the old bridge the present day route of Trout Creek.
Bridge date, 1907 carved into concrete.
We couldn’t find any information online as to when the old bridge was built. We visited the area a second time about a year after our first visit. Walking around the bridge, we hit the jackpot, as the date, 1907, was carved into the concrete by some unknown worker or passerby. This bridge was built before the Lincoln Highway was inaugurated in 1913, so it acted as a county bridge before that era.
Below is a short video we made a couple of years back concerning the bridge site.
We will be continuing our Lincoln Highway southern route adventure, headed towards Meyer’s, in an upcoming post.