Truckee on the Lincoln Highway

Map of Truckee showing the route of the Lincoln Highway. Click map for larger view.

The early eastbound Lincoln Highway traveler would have entered Truckee via the present-day Prosser Dam Road, which today crosses Highway 89, which has obliterated any old road traces. You can pick up the road by heading down E. Jibboom Street, which runs into Bridge Street. E. Jibboom Street was before the Lincoln Highway, a county road, and before that, the Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road (DFDLWR), built by the Central Pacific Railroad.

In the photo below, taken around the 1920s, we are looking north at Truckee and the Lincoln Highway, which is quite visible heading up the mountains. The early Lincoln Highway in this area followed the DFDLWR.

1920s view of Truckee and the Lincoln Highway.

Heading down The Lincoln Highway on East Jibboom, we come to Bridge Street and the Stone Garage, a landmark today. There is a plaque outside installed by the California Lincoln Highway Association and E Clampus Vitus, which describes this place's history.

Truckee Stone Garage on Bridge and E Jibboom Streets.

Once past the Truckee Stone Garage we turn right on Donner Pass Road and head down one block to Spring Street and the site of the Sierra Tavern, a popular stopping place along the old road. The first photo at the top of the blog shows the magnificent structure, which burned down in 1927, the year the Lincoln Highway became Highway 40.

Plaque on the wall of the Stone Garage.

Sierra Tavern in 1908 with Charles Fayette McGlashan’s home at the top left. Mc Glasahan was a prominent citizen of Truckee.

In the photo above, we can see the Sierra Tavern in 1908, five years before the Lincoln Highway. A lone automobile sits on Spring Street. The building at the top left was the home of CF McGlashan, a prominent Truckee Citizen. That building is long gone and was replaced by a Quonset hut shaped building for Truckee Veterans. To the Sierra Tavern's right, across Spring Street, we can see the Chance Saloon and OK Bar where the photo below was taken.

Rare photo of a Lincoln Highway “L” sign on Donner Pass Road, Truckee, sometime in the late 1910s, early 1920s.

In our next installment of the Lincoln Highway’s northern route, we will continue our trip towards the summit but will first stop to check out the Donner Party’s encampment site, now known as Donner Memorial State Park.

Photographs from Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection, and Adventures in California History.

A crossroads on the northern route of the Lincoln Highway, Part 5

The 1913 route of Lincoln Highway from the Second Summit outside Verdi to Truckee is likely some of the least visited sections of the old road. This route was active with transcontinental drivers until 1926 when the Truckee River's new route was completed. That Truckee River route is the path that Highway 40 took, and Interstate 80 follows today. The Dog Valley route soon lost most of it’s its traffic and became what it is today, a back road, little traveled, filled with history.

Map of entire area discussed. Click map for a closer view.

The above map shows the general location, from Verdi, NV., to Truckee. The yellow symbols are Trails West “T” markers placed on the old emigrant route. The markers are placed on or directly next to the original trail. In between the signs, the route is often undetectable, and that is why my lines from one marker to the next are often straight. We don’t know the actual route, yet.

Before reaching the Stampede Reservoir, we come to a famous crossroads mentioned by the emigrants and still existing today. Henness Pass Road, which we had been traveling on, continues west towards Camptonvile. Our road, the Lincoln Highway and DFDLWR, will become Dog Valley Road. We will use Stampede Reservoir Road to get over the dam and around the lake.

Map showing crossroads and Stampeded Reservoir. Click map for larger view.

In the lake, we can see the line representing the road going around two small islands that are visible when the lake level drops. The small iron bridge that used to cross the now flooded Little Truckee Rive may still be located under the water. The road then rises out of the reservoir and passes by a parking lot that was, unfortunately, built right over the road. The sign below explains what was lost.

Descriptive sign at Stampeded Reservoir. Click the sign for a larger view.

Once we pass Stampede Reservoir, we will have the opportunity to see five different Trails West “T” Markers showing the Emigrant Trail route. Rarely will we miss the opportunity to veer off course to take in the history of these markers. Some of California’s most interesting history is located along this stretch of road. Sometimes we can see the emigrant trail's actual route, and in those cases, we have detailed the route on our map. Wagon ruts and rust stains on rocks are often the best indicators that you're on the trail.

The photo shows Trails West “T” Marker, T-33, “To Prosser Creek”. You can vaguely see the wagon wheel ruts moving off into the distance.

Sign between Stampeded and Prosser Reservoirs. Notice the emigrant trail sign at lower left, pointing the way.

We now arrive at Prosser reservoir where once again we find the old road has been flooded by a reservoir, in this case, built-in 1963. You pass over the dam to get around the lake, and once past the reservoir, our next stop will be Truckee.

There is a great side trip to the Donner Party Campsite, where that family and others overwintered while the rest of the wagon train was caught at Donner Lake, then known as Truckee Lake. Monica and I visited that a year or so ago and put together this short video.

The area from Summit One on Henness Pass Road to Prosser Reservoir is one that we will visit again. We would love to make the drive on Henness Pass Road from the crossroads we described to Comptonville, which is quite a distance filled with all sorts of history. There are also a couple of T Markers and old building sites we need to explore. It’s beautiful out there, and with the added history, it is an area that could fill a lifetime of exploration.

Our next adventure, Part 5 on the Lincoln Highway’s northern route, will be in Truckee, a very historic town.

Dog Valley to Truckee on the northern route of the Lincoln Highway, Part 4

We are now on our way up Henness Pass Road, leaving Verdi and headed towards the “First Summit.” The First Summit is where the emigrants then descended to Dog Valley to camp and feed their animals. The Lincoln Highway does not head down to the valley but follows a ridge above the valley.

First summit. Click photo for larger view.

Here at First Summit was Bauer’s Hotel, 1865. I couldn’t find any more information on this hotel, nor could we see any hotel's physical signs. We always find it fascinating to think there was so much traffic on this road that hotels were needed every so often. Looking at the panorama photo above, we can see the Lincoln Highway headed towards the Second Summit, a road heading down to Dog Valley, the direction the emigrants traveled, and the road to Verdi.

Dog Valley as seen from the Lincoln Highway, looking north-east.

Just past the First Summit, we round a curve and the view of Dog Valley is spectacular. We intend to head down to the valley next year and check out a Trail West “T” Marker on the old trail through the valley the Emigrant Trail soon heads back up from the valley to what’s known as “Second Summit”. The Trails West “T” marker pictured below describes the scene.

Trail West “T” marker at Second Summit. Click photo fro closer view.

The road from Verdi to Prosser Reservoir is all dirt and fairly easy to travel. The first section up from Verdi to First Summit is a beautiful example of the “washboard effect”. Once at the summit the road is easy to drive, dusty in the summer, and not recommended in the winter. In the map below we can see a portion of the Lincoln Highway headed into Stampede Reservoir, which of course was not there during the early parts of the 20th Century. We will take up that portion of the adventure on our next installment of the Lincoln Highways northern route from Verdi, NV through California.

Map showing area and some key features. Click map for a closer view.

Satellite view showing Verdi off in the distance and the climb up to the first summit. Looking southeast. Click map for a closer view.

Verdi to Henness Pass Road on the old Lincoln Highway northern route, part 3

Dog Valley and Henness Pass Road from Verdi to Truckee is one of the most historic in California. Besides being the Lincoln Highway's original route, this was also the Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road (DFDLWR), and before that, an emigrant trail.

The first wagon train across The Sierra was the Stevens, Townsend, Murphy party, guided by Caleb Greenwood, a trapper, in 1844. They took the only way known to them, from the area known today as Verdi. They followed the Truckee River down its narrow canyon. This was a brutal passage as the emigrants often found themselves in the water working their way upstream. It may be that they were the only wagon train to use this passage as a newer, easier route had been discovered.

Sign at the Von Schmidt Obeilisk park in Verdi, at the California border line.

That newer route was the road we are about to travel on. In 1845 Caleb Greenwood, not wishing to repeat the Truckee River route, discovered the way we are venturing on. This route avoided the waters of The Truckee and used the ridge tops and not the canyons for travel. This was the same route the Donner Party followed on their way west.

Map showing both new and old routes from Verdi to Truckee. Click map for larger view.

Starting in 1864, this route was also the Dutch Flat Wagon Road, which became quite busy as travelers headed west and even busier during the silver boom in Nevada with thousands traveling east. Automobiles started using this road in 1901, and in 1913 the Lincoln Highway Association chose this way for its northern route. From 1864 to 1926, this was the main route into California from points east.

Automobile traveling west on the new Truckee River Route of the second generation Lincoln Highway, soon to be Highway 40. Photo from Lincoln Highway Traveler Newsletter.

The Dog Valley route as it was called was being prepared for it’s inclusion as the new state highway when in 1926 it was decided to build the more expensive, $889,894, and difficult Truckee River route. The Dog Valley Route would have been completed for $94,000. Apparently politics played a role in the new routes construction. After 1926 all traffic was diverted down the newer Truckee River Route, Highway 40. The Dog Valley Route was abandoned and became a county road.

Trey standing by Trail West “T” marker #24. The quote by Emigrant Isaac Wistar commented that “large pines, firs and cedars abound…some of which are fully six feet through.”

As we head up Dog Valley Road, it changes to Henness Pass Road, and we spot our first Trails West “T” marker, describing the immense trees, some 6 feet wide! The emigrant trail likely followed the present-day road's general route, though likely they used the sides of the hills for passage. In the photo above the Lincoln Highway is behind the photographer by about 10 yards.

Satellite image showing location and features. Click map for a closer view.

From this point up to the first summit, the road is quite rough, with the washboard effect very evident. Shake, rattle, and roll!

TC Wohlbrück and his Canteen Service Stations

Entering the State of California via the Lincoln Highway meant you had two choices to make in Reno. Take the northern route up and over Donner Pass, or take the southern route pass Lake Tahoe and over the summit at Johnson's Pass. Either option meant a challenging climb, which was brutal for both people and machines. What was needed was a place to rest, body, and engine while picking up supplies to keep both on the road.

PG&E lookout which T.C.. added to create his canteen. Notice the Lincoln Highway sign.

Theodore Clemens Wohlbrück (1879–1936), known as "T.C." Wohlbrück, was a photographer who arrived in California in 1912 from Massachusetts after getting a divorce in Reno. He made his living by traveling around the state in his automobile, taking school class pictures. Wohlbrück noticed how important the car was becoming in everyday life. The motors of that time were a bit unreliable and needed regular oil and water top offs and gasoline to keep moving on the road.

This color postcard shows the view of Bear Valley below the PG&E Lookout at Emigrant Gap. Click photo for larger view.

T.C. was an entrepreneur. He saw a need and decided to address it with a business. His idea was to provide these services and food, trinkets, and rooms for rent. Long before the mini-mart gas stations, we see today T.C. decided to build what he called a "Lookout" and "Canteen Service Station" at Emigrant Gap along the Lincoln Highways northern route. At this time, he had also envisioned another canteen at the Donner Memorial, dedicated in 1918, but that project would come later.

The view is looking west towards the lookout. Eventually, this would become the site of the famous Nyack Lodge.

Pacific Gas & Electric (P.G.&E) had built a small "lookout" at the Emigrant Gap, the historic "gap" in the mountains where the early pioneers had crossed over the spine of mountains and down to Bear Valley. The power company had built the lookout so travelers could stop and take in the fantastic view and watch the construction going on in the distance of the enlarging of Spaulding Dam. However, the lookout site was not occupied and frequently vandalized, so T.C. offered P.G.&E a deal. He would build his first "Canteen" there while maintaining the spot's integrity and preventing further damage. This lookout, completed in 1919, included an additional 100 acres that Wohlbrück had purchased from a man named Allen, to prevent anyone else from opening up a competing business, which he had heard was in the works.

TCs “Echo Summit Lookout” on Johnson Pass Road.

This photo is the view overlooking Tahoe Valley. Sign at right says, “Make your own postcards from the top of the world. Echo Summit, elevation 7890.” Click photo for larger view.

Wohlbrück built his second canteen on the Lincoln Highway's southern route at Echo Summit on Johnson's Pass. This canteen also had spectacular views which could be seen out back on the deck. A spyglass for travelers to take in the scenery was available, and postcards with Wohlbrücks photos of the region were for sale.

Interior view of Echo Summit Canteen, Some of the hand- made furniture by Wohlbrück still exists in the Alpine Club. Click photo for larger view.

The Echo Summit canteen still exists as the Alpine Club Lodgehouse and even includes some of TCs handmade furniture. The color photo shows the lodge as it is today. It still has a Lincoln Highway sign!

Echo Summit Lodge today.

Wohlbrück's third canteen was near the recently completed Donner Pioneer Memorial in Truckee, just east of Donner Lake. Before the park existed, the monument sat by itself with people removing the rocks at the base as souvenirs. Wohlbrück saw an opportunity and leased the land from the Native Sons of the Golden West, who owned the property. He offered to protect the monument while servicing travelers with his canteen service station. Visitors had been removing rocks around the base of the statue, so he put a cap of concrete around it.

The view of the Donner Memorial from the Lincoln Highway. Photo from Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler collection.

View from porch at Donner Canteen looking toward monument . Click photo for larger view.

Interior of Donner Canteen. Click photo for larger view.

Wohlbrück was an avid collector of memorabilia as well as automobiles. In 1930 he presented his collection to the Horse and Auto Museum in Redwood City. Soon the collection outgrew that space, and he moved it to San Jose in 1936. It never opened to the public. Wohlbrück asked the State of California if they would build a museum to house his priceless collection of horse-drawn vehicles, automobiles, and antiques, but they declined.

Four days before his death on November 28th, 1936, he agreed with the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, to sell them his collection. The collection included 152 carriages, coaches, and wagons, 60 motorcars, including the 1913 Mercedes used by Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany used on the eastern front during World War I, the family carriage of Leyland Stanford, and the hunting wagon of Mark Hopkins.

TC Wohlbrück was a man ahead of his time and an essential part of the history of transportation over the Sierra Nevada.

Although very difficult to locate in this photo, there two Signal gas pumps located in the background that State Parks didn’t realize existed. Located on the highway between the small shrub in center of the photo and the tress to right is a Lincoln Highway concrete marker post.

Thanks to Norm Sayler, of the Donner Summit Historical Society, for keeping the memory of TC alive. It was Norm that said there was a fascinating story to be told, and he was right. Photos are from Norm’s collection.

Dedication of corner stone for Donner Memorial

On June 10th, 1910, a dedication ceremony was held at the Breen cabin's site, including members of the Donner Party in attendance! This dedication was to formally mark the spot that would, in about 8 years, hold the massive statue and support for the Donner Party Memorial. An immense granite cornerstone was inscribed and placed at the corner of the Breen cabin's site.

The inscription on the stone read, "This cornerstone marks the site of the Donner Party cabins where a monument will be erected under the auspices of The Native Sons of the Golden West to the pioneers that crossed the plains."

This evocative photograph shows CF Mc Glashan, Truckee attorney, who spearheaded the monument construction, speaking to the assembled audience. Sitting on the stand listening are three of the Donner Party survivors, Virginia Reed Murphy, Patty Reed Lewis, and dressed in white, Francis Donner Wilder. All three women would show up 8 years later for the monument dedication.

Donner Monument, unfinished

I am working on a video concerning the construction of The Donner Pioneer Monument and came upon this intriguing photo. It shows the Donner Memorial without the statue of the family on top. The base was hand built and the sculpture installed piece by piece.

What captured my attention was the immense cornerstone sitting next to the base. The stone was dedicated a few years before as the start of the year's long effort to get the statue up. It marked the corner of the Breen cabin, who were members of the Donner Party. We see the cornerstone in pictures taken before, during, and just after the monument was dedicated. However, sometime after that, it went missing, and no one knows what happened to it.

Donner Camp Historic Park

Situated along Highway 89, just north of the town of Truckee, along Alder Creek is the Donner Camp Historic Site., where the Donner Family set up camp during that fateful winter of 1846-47. Monica, and I had visited The Donner Memorial State Park located along the shore of Donner Lake. It recounts the stories of the Murphy, Breen, Reed, and other families that spent that winter huddled in their primitive shelters. What we didn't realize until we started to research the event was The Donner Family had broken an axle on their wagon and had to stop for repairs at Alder Creek when the snow started falling, and they had to make camp there. While there were some visits between the two camps by various members of the party, they mostly had to ride the winter out separated.

It was a beautiful day in early August when we visited the site. I had watched a documentary on some archaeologist that had recently visited this site and dug around what was called The Donner Tree. This tree, now a dead stump, acted as support for the families attempt to build a structure out of branches, animal hides, and the tree. It was in this crude structure the families rode out the winter. There is a memorial plaque attached to a rock next to the tree.

We walked the interpretative trail for a bit, but our natural wanderlust pulled us away as we tried to follow the Overland Emigrant Trail that passes through the camp. There are markers and signs from various periods attached to trees guiding one in the direction of the trail. Unlike the marked and well walked interpretative trails, the actual Overland Emigrant Trail is overgrown and in many cases quite hard to find. We did manage to follow the markers to a place above the hill but then lost the trail. However, a little further down, towards Prosser reservoir, we found an old stone obelisk, which we knew from experience held a sign indicating the trail. We feel pretty confident we found the path down to the reservoir, which at the time of was called Prosser Creek.

If you're into Mountain Biking, like we are, there is a great single track ride called, The Commemorative Emigrant Trail", which "roughly" follows the original trail from the camp, past Prosser Reservoir, all the way to Stampede Reservoir, a fourteen-mile trip. We rode a portion of it from The Camp to Prosser Reservoir, a smooth ride. Someday next year we plan on riding out further, though 28 miles round trip might be a bit much. The bikes were very helpful in getting us to places inaccessible by car. The sheer beauty of this place in the eastern Sierra makes it well worth visiting, and when you add the historical context it becomes a must visit for anyone interested in early 19th Century California, the Emigrant Trails and the story of the Donner Family. The descendants of the Donner’s planted a commemorative pine tree near The Donner Tree after it died in the 1990's. You will see a memorial marker nearby. Donner Camp Historic site is a place of quiet beauty and respect for the hardships the emigrants faced on their trek westward.

Here is a short, less than five minute video of our exploration of the area.