Rattlesnake Bar Bridge site

Wanting to keep our trip closer to home this time, we took a quick ride to Folsom Lake. We wanted to see the old Rattlesnake Bar Bridge site, which once forded the north fork of The American River, long before Folsom Dam. When the lake is filling or filled, this area is flooded by at least 50 feet of water. The lake had left lines in the sides of the hills, and old signs of hydraulic mining along with tailings added to the weird but beautiful landscape.

Folsom Lake at low levels, Rattlesnake Bar.

We rounded a corner to see the pilings for the bridge fully exposed! We knew what they looked like from earlier photos taken during our last drought, but it's fun to see them in person. It reminds us that there were quite a few active communities located in the ravines and channels that would become Folsom Lake. Rattlesnake Bar was one such place, a town that grew because of gold, burned down, then built again just a little way up the hill. We had heard that Rattlesnake Bar was on the El Dorado County side, but this map from 1873 shows Rattlesnake Bar on the Placer County side. You can also see the bridge crossing the narrow north fork Channel and Wild Goose's old town site on The El Dorado County side. Another map from 1910, The American River Canal Map, also shows Rattlesnake Bar on the Placer County side.

1873 map of The Georgetown Divide

While gold was the main impetus for creating Rattlesnake Bar in the 1850s, the bridge facilitated the transportation of agricultural products and quicklime from the Alabaster Cave Quarry on the El Dorado County side. It was William Gwyn, discoverer of the famous Alabaster Caves, or at that time called Coral Caves, who built the first bridge in 1863. This cave was the result of a search for lime to use in the lime kiln nearby. Quicklime was created and then transported across this bridge. The Alabaster Cave soon became a tourist attraction, and the bridge helped interested people get there more quickly. You could take the train from Sacramento to Auburn, then a stage to the bridge, where you would cross to the El Dorado side and the extraordinary Alabaster Cave. We will talk about this then famous cave in a later post.

Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 25, Number 3835, 7 July 1863

The original wooden bridge, built-in 1862, was replaced with a wire suspension bridge that endured until it collapsed in 1954 under an overloaded truck's weight. Folsom Dam was under construction, and this area would soon be underwater, so the counties did not replace the bridge.

Rattlesnake Bar Bridge, 1860 or 1870’s. Notice the young child just to the left of the man standing.

The same spot today with the bridge pilings clearly visible.

Here is a short video concerning our trip to the bridge site.

At the end of the trail

Monday found Monica and I searching for the end of the Overland Emigrant Trail. There was more than one trail named "The Overland Emigrant Trail," but the one we were following is generally considered one of the oldest, and most well known. Also called the Truckee Trail it weaves its way down the west slope of The Sierra Nevada all the way from Donner Pass, or Beckworth Pass to the south. Pictured is the trail the relief party took to rescue The Donner’s, Reeds, Murphy’s and others stranded in the deep snow at Donner Lake. The survivors made there way down this very trail seen in the above photo. You can look at the ruts at the top of the hill which were created by the thousands of emigrant wagons that once crossed over what would be one of the last hills to pass before finally reaching their destination, Johnson’s Ranch.

We took these photos at Far West Reservoir Road, just east of Wheatland, the town that grew up around Johnson's Ranch. There is also a stone monument you can see in the third photo with Monica. It is for Graham hotel, built in 1853, which served travelers until 1879. The emigrants that traveled this way were not looking for gold, like later arrivals. This trail was used mostly before the gold rush of 1849 by people just looking to start a new life. Once the emigrants and other travelers passed this spot, it was only a few miles to Johnson's Ranch and the end of the trail. Once at Johnson's Ranch an immigrant would either settle nearby or head off to another part of California to start a new life.

A Lincoln Highway artifact discovered!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Monica and I decided to take a Lincoln Highway road trip from Placerville to Altamont Pass. We tried to follow the "first-generation" Lincoln as much as possible. Traveling through the town of Galt, we stopped to see a rock monument to The Lincoln Highway. It features an actual piece of the concrete stamped with the contractor's name.

Lincoln Highway monument, Galt, CA. Notice the piece of Lincoln Highway concrete with the contractors name and date on the bottom.

Fast forward to Lathrop, a small town situated along Interstate 5, California’s modern-day north-south expressway. We stopped to take in a monument to the Lincoln Highway and The Wiggins Trading Post, which served travelers on The Lincoln and roads from 1924 to 1967. Nice looking monument! The only thing missing would be a piece of Lincoln Highway Concrete like the one in Galt features.

Monica checking out the monument at Wiggins Trading Post site, Lathrop, CA.

After we started driving west from the monument, we watched the Lincoln Highway Map, which we keep handy in the car. It shows the old routes, along with the recent driving routes. We watched the map as it showed the Lincoln Highway weaving in and out of the present-day road. You would never know the old highway traveled this way without the map and the occasional Lincoln Highway signs mounted on street poles. Monica and I have become pretty good at spotting pieces and paths of the old route. It was less than a quarter-mile from the monument to The Wiggins Trading Post that we saw something interesting by the side of the road.

Monica checking out the piece of Lincoln Highway concrete that caught our eye.

We parked on the other side of the road; as I approached, it was not only looking more and more like a section of Lincoln Highway concrete poking out of the dirt. Once I got close enough, I called Monica to come and check it out. It was stamped with the contractor's name and the date of June (?) 1928! It was a piece of the old highway! It wasn't on the official Lincoln Highway map, which generally lists all the historic highway features by the road's side. No mention of this original section of road. We took photos, a video and made a note of its location on our map. As soon as we got back home, we started to do some research.

We contacted the good people of The Lincoln Highway Association and asked if they knew about this artifact. No, they had not! We figure that when it comes to anything Lincoln Highway, they would know. So now it's getting exciting, as it may be a previously unknown section of the highway we discovered. This week I'll contact the San Joaquin County historical society to see if they have any knowledge of this piece of history. The Lincoln Highway Association wants to preserve this, and it's quite exciting to think that this lovely piece of history, lying by the side of the busy interstate may one day have its very own monument!

We are quite excited about our find. It goes to show that there is still plenty to be discovered and rediscovered concerning California history. The key? Get out there, keep your eyes open, and don't be afraid to take the road less traveled.

A lost section of Highway 40 at Eagle Lakes Road.

Monday took us to the high country for one last chance to enjoy it before the first snow of the season, maybe on Thursday. Monica and I had On Yesterday, Monday, we had intended to visit Yesterday, Monday, we had intended to visit Prosser Reservoir, just north of Truckee, to follow the old Emigrant Trail. We never made it! We usually pick some destination as a goal, but if we find something else along the way that interests us, we will change plans, and that's what happened Monday.

Eagle Lakes exit on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80.

On the way, we had decided to visit Eagle Lakes Road, just of Highway 80. If you turn right after exiting the freeway, you have access to the original Lincoln Highway. There is a T marker there indicating it was also the Truckee Trail Emigrant route. We had made that visit a couple of weeks ago but now wanted to turn left and cross under the freeway as we had seen some homes there, between the two expressways. The area is so narrow and surrounded by cliffs that Interstate 80 has two routes over this place. One is the eastbound lanes and the other the westbound lanes, separated by about a quarter mile. Between these two expressways, the south fork of The Yuba River passes, with a few cabins built along the river. Just as we were passing across the river, we noticed another road, which I assumed to be a lost section of Highway 40, the highway that predated Interstate 80.

Highway 40 was built in 1926 and operated as an Interstate highway system until the present Interstate 80 was constructed in 1956. Highway 40, in many cases, followed the old Lincoln Highway, which was America’s first transcontinental automobile road. In this area of The Sierras Highway 40 followed the Yuba River, while The Lincoln Highway and the emigrant trail avoided the steep, narrow canyon and followed a route on a ridge top.

On this map you can see the amazing number of trail and routes through this narrow gap in the mountains. The red line is the lost section of Highway 40 we walked. The blue line in the Emigrant Trail and the original alignment of The Lincoln Highway. The yellow line is The Union Pacific Railway, and the white lines are the two sections, eastbound and westbound of Interstate 80. What’s no shown is the oil pipeline and cable lines that also transverse this spot. Amazing place!

Once we left the car and started walking down the old roadbed, we were greeted by this fantastic rock retaining wall. They had to do this as there was no other way to support a road in this narrow canyon. It appears that after highway 40 the people who built Highway 80 decided to split the expressway and avoid this tight place. The old roadbed runs about a quarter mile to an old bridge crossing which has had the bridge removed. The remains of the bridge were used to make a retaining wall for the new Interstate 80.

Old site of Highway 40 bridge, with present day Interstate 80 bridge, westbound lanes behind.

What a fantastic find for us. I imagine very few people have seen this as most are speeding by on Interstate 80, and there are no services at The Eagle Lakes exit. It's fun to explore these old sections of road as you can hear the present travelers speeding by on the Interstate, oblivious to the history around them. This spot is an example of why we "slow down and take the road less traveled".

Here is a short video of our Eagle Lake Roads adventure.

Searching for the Emigrant Trail at Alder Creek

One of our great joys is finding the actual routes of the emigrants, the emigrant trails. These are not always easy to find. In the case of The Donner Camp at Alder Creek, there are trail signs, though at times they are spaced quite far apart, or missing as the trail gets closer to Prosser Reservoir. We assumed the Donner Party set up camp along the trail, so it must be close to the Donner Tree, against which they built their winter home. Soon we spotted some small green "Emigrant Trail" markers near the tree. Following these, we realized they were not following the well-worn path from the interpretive trail, but headed through a thicket of trees and up and over a ridge. There was little to indicate the trail went up the ridge, except for the trail markers. Standing at the bottom of the hill the next trail marker was so distant we could hardly see it, but we did see it with effort, so we went that way!

There is no trail to walk in. We were traipsing through sagebrush in our shorts. We were so excited to see the trail path that we didn't notice our legs being scratched up quite nicely from the sagebrush. In some spots, we could see the outlines of ruts, made by hundreds and thousands of wagon wheels, and in other places no sign, except for the trail markers, which seemed to come in four different guises. The first, and easiest to spot where the small green "emigrant trail" shields. These looked the newest of the markers, and we have seen these same markers at various places along the Truckee Trail. The wooden markers, the ones we could read, seemed to say "Emigrant Trail" with an arrow showing the way, west. Many faded beyond recognition but seeing their outlines we knew we were on the right track.

One of the most exciting finds for us was the discovery of the unique "Donner Trail" shields that were painted on trees using white paint. The markers were splitting up as the trees had grown. They seemed the oldest of the markers we saw that day. I would love to know who painted these and the time frame.

The last marker, which was indispensable in marking a section of the path was the concrete post. It was the final sign that we were on the trail, until Prosser Reservoir, and the now flooded crossing at Alder Creek. It did not have the sign indicating "The Overland Emigrant Trail" like the one pictured in Bear Valley. We have seen a couple of these markers without their interpretive signs in a few places. Unless you knew what they represented, you would never know you're on the trail. We couldn't find any more markers from the concrete post to the reservoir.

Donner Camp at Alder Creek is a favorite spot of ours, now that we have discovered it for ourselves. The east side of The Sierra has a unique charm with its sagebrush-covered hills, and this spot is exceptionally beautiful. Anyone interested in The Overland Emigrant Trail, or the story of The Donner/Reed Party should include this place, as well as the nearby Donner Historical Park near Donner Lake in their visit.

Here is a short video of our trip to Donner Camp at Alder Creek, and our attempt to find the old Emigrant Trail.

Searching for the Emigrant Trail, Mt. Olive Road, Nevada County

Monica and I spent Monday at Yuba Gap, in the high country of The Sierra, looking for the old "Overland Emigrant Trail." While we didn't find any "T markers," we did spot a stone obelisk on Laing Road. You wouldn't know what this thing was unless, like us, you had seen them before with their sign attached, as this one in Bear Valley does. I'm not sure whether these signs are being stolen, or fall off, but we have come across more of these markers without their signs than with them.

Concrete marker with sign

The next day, Tuesday we stayed a bit closer to home and tried to locate the trail in the foothills above Grass Valley. We had read the descriptions of how the path followed Lowell Ridge before dropping down towards Chicago Park area. The name Mount Olive stood out from our research so when we found the road we drove it! Coming down Mt Olive Road, it makes a sharp right-hand turn, and that's when Monica saw the "T marker." We are on the trail!

Monica and T Marker for Mt. Olive

Something looked different about this marker. It seemed it faced in an odd direction, east. Hard to read. There was also a large pile of gravel in front of it. We took some pictures and proceeded down Mt. Olive Road looking for more signs of the trail. Once at home we opened up Emigrant Trails West webpage, looked up the Truckee Trail, and the picture of this particular T marker was there! However, a house has been built right on the trail. I have put two pictures up, one from the Trails West webpage, and our photo from Tuesday. This house is entirely new, as it also does not show up on Google Maps.

Photo from Trails West webpage.

Our day was complete, as we found another section of the trail. What's worrying though is the rapid pace of development going on in the foothills of The Sierra. It's quite a desirable place to live, and we saw many new homes popping up here and there. Our concern, as history buffs, is what will people do with these old places and trails. Some don't even know what they are building on, or in some cases, don't care. How can we preserve these beautiful pieces of history, without denying people their private property rights? As fan's of the trails, it's a bit of a shame to see them paved over and in some cases forgotten.

The same spot as above but now with a house.

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.

Taking the trip from Auburn to Truckee

The town of Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, and we begin our journey from this spot at the County Courthouse. Our goal is to drive to Truckee, on the eastern side of The Sierra using the modern expressway Interstate 80 as little as possible. While that road will get you there quicker, we are in no hurry, other than to make a day of it. Remember what the kids would say, "are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there...". I think our answer was always, "enjoy the trip. The journey is part of the fun". I don't think they bought it, but they are kids, and we know better. The trip is the fun!

Our main route will follow, as close as possible, The Lincoln Highway which traversed the Sierra in two places. The Lincoln Highway was America's first Transcontinental Highway, and it's first named highway. Before it's existence in the early 1920's if you wished to cross the country you had no one route to follow. You were on your own, stitching your trip together road by road. With the advent of The Lincoln Highway, you now had a map to follow on your cross-country trip. In 1927 The Lincoln Highway Association ordered the casting of 3000 concrete markers, like the one pictured here. They feature a gold medallion of Abraham Lincoln and an arrow showing the direction of the route. There are a few of these on our journey!

We take you on one of our favorite adventures, driving the old Lincoln Highway from Auburn CA to past Donner Lake and on to Nevada!

After leaving the courthouse the next stop is one such marker placed in front of The City of Auburn's Civic Center, or on the map, it's called "Public Works". You can tell it's location by our large orange marker "Adventures in California History" on our map. It looks like this. The map is interactive so you can move it around, zoom in, or get directions to these places. Play around with it, it’s fun.

Click that square and more info will "pop up". No, not this square, the one on the map! After stopping to see the marker, we head back onto the appropriately named "Lincoln Way" headed east to our next stop, Auburn's Transcontinental Railroad Station, built in 1902. If the museum is open it might be worth a visit, but we are headed up-country and our next point of interest, The Machado Apple Barn where there is a small section of the "old highway" we can check out, as well as stock up on fresh fruit or other supplies at the barn. They have one of the most massive windmills we have ever seen!

After visiting Machado's, we head back on the road for some of the best back county driving around, through the rolling foothills climbing higher and higher as we head up the mountains! We pick up the trip on our next blog post.

The Lincoln Highway Association is made up of people interested in preserving and marking the old route. They are responsible for the metal signs indicating the Lincoln Highway's old route. They also publish a digital map that shows the entire Lincoln Highway system. We use this map all the time as we travel and work at building our own "Adventure" map.