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Richard Stillson brought up a "middle route" and we have had some
discussion about Nobles's Trail which departs from the Scott-Applegate
South Road to Oregon at Black Rock Spring originally and then from
Rabbithole Springs.
However, there is another "middle route" which approaches the southern end
of Lassen's trail. It is named for Beckwourth (which I assume is Jim
Beckwourth, famous mountain man, fur trapper, and reconteur). Like the
Lassen and Nobles trails, it is one of the designated alternative routes of
the California NHT. It takes off from Reno and turns west toward the north
end of the Sierra Nevada and comes into California down the Feather River
to Bidwell Bar near Oroville. It roughly splits the difference in crossing
the Sierra between Lassen's route and the Truckee River route. Unruh gives
it 1 paragraph on page 300 and indicates that it was opened to much fanfare
in 1851 although apparently it never caught on. Greg Franzwa ignored the
Beckwourth Trail in his map set of the California Trail except for a single
comment that the pass Beckwourth found seemed to be one of the easiest
Sierra passes. I don't seem to have any other sources on this route.
Now that Wendell has explained his original interest in the railroad
routes, I am curious how does Beckwourth's Trail fit into this discussion
since apparently Beckwourth found and opened his route the year before
Nobles showed his route to the backers from Shasta City and it appears to
be within the area of interest for establishing a railroad route across the
Sierra?
Stafford
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