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| OCTA CA-NV Chapter Trails History | Updated on January 28, 2006 |
| Raft River Parting of the Ways |
| Message # 3 |
| date | November 22, 2005 |
| author | Don Buck |
| subject | Notes on The Parting of the Ways at the Raft River |
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[Editor's Note: Don Buck sent the following article to Jim McGill. Don's material came out of the write up he did for the Trails West Emigrant Trails West: A Guide to the California Trail. Trails West is currently revising this Guide for publication later this year but Don's write up will remain the same. For more information on this Guide and other Trails West publications see the Trails West website.]
Don Buck Five miles farther [after crossing Fall Creek and ascending a steep hill], the road bids farewell to the Snake River & strikes off to the left. Here also “The Oregon Trail” strikes off to the right & leaves us alone in our glory, with no other goal before us but Death or the Diggins. Alonzo Delano, July 20, 1849: A long drive brought us to Raft River, or creek for it is only two rods wide, flowing through a valley three or four miles wide, with good grass near the stream. Here the road forks, one leading to California, the other to Oregon. A few diary accounts, however, are more descriptive and indicate there were three crossings of the Raft River before leaving it. Three crossings show that the first crossing was to the west side of the river at the “parting of the ways.” The second crossing was to the east side about 5 miles south. Also, some diary accounts describe the Oregon Trail continuing up the bluff but not the California Trail. Others make it clear that after crossing the Raft River and leaving the Oregon Trail, emigrants stayed on the river bottom and were not up on the bluff. The most descriptive diary accounts follow. [In most cases, italics are mine.] James A. Pritchard, July 6, 1849: Within one half mile of our encampment this morning we bid a final adieu to Lewis’s fork of the Columbia River and Struck across the hills for some distance, and descended into the bottom of Raft River. It is a small stream with a smooth strong current and gravely bed. We nooned on this stream some 5 or 6 miles above were we first struck it. It is at the crossing of this stream [first crossing] that the Oregon & California roads separate. William L. Thomas, July 8, 1849: 8 miles travle brought us to Raft River here our course turned up the valey, twice crossing it. [reference to first two crossings before he nooned] Alonzo Delano, July 21, 1849: Our course now lay southerly, up the creek [Raft River], and during the day we crossed it three times. [This suggests that he crossed the Raft River at the “parting of the ways.”] Joseph Hackney: [July 24, 1849] we camped for the night on the opposite side of raft river [first crossing] the oregon road turnes off hear thear is a number of wagons camped on the river that inden[d] to go to oregon they are all family wagons [July 25, 1849] Traveled 12 miles our route to day was up raft river we crossed it once during the day [second crossing] the road was very good but terrible dusty [July 26, 1849] Traveled 18 miles we crossed the river 3 miles from camp [third crossing] and then left it for 8 miles … the new cut off came in heare it has never been traveled with wagons before this year Margaret Frink, July 15, 1850: We left Beaver Creek [Fall Creek] at six o’clock, still traveling down Snake River, and in eight miles came to Raft River, a small stream that flowed from mountains on our left. Here the roads fork again, the right-hand one turning off northwesterly towards Oregon, while we took the left-hand one, going southwesterly towards California, leaving Snake River, and traveling up Raft River. We crossed it three times during the day, and at dark drove into camp on a branch of this stream [Cassia Creek], not far from the junction of the Myer’s Cut-off, which we had passed near the Steamboat Spring. Byron McKinstry: [Aug. 1, 1850] Raft River I find to be a creek not more than two Rods wide, with at this place narrow marshy bottoms widening above and below, scattering willow and alkali ponds & sloughs, along its banks. We are some 3 or 4 miles from where it empties into the [Snake] River. The Oregon road takes up the bluff and follows the course of the [Snake] River while we keep to the left and follow the creek [Raft River] nearly to its source. … Crossing the creek [first crossing to the west side] we followed up the bottom, the creek on our left for 5 or 6 m.[staying between the river and bluff], the bottoms narrow, the bluffs low but rocky and almost perpendicular. … The meadows are extensive and we found several companies already here recruiting their teams. [Aug. 2, 1850] We keep up the creek through fields of heavy grass, occasionally a wet slough full of duck and snipe, sage hens … Thousands of tons of hay might be cut here. … In 3 or 4 m. crossed [second crossing to the east side], leaving the stream we keep along the sage plain, a slope extending from the hills to the creek, 3 m. Cyrus Loveland: [Aug. 3, 1850] We proceeded down this hollow, crossed a sandy bottom, arrived at Raft River, crossed, and nooned [first crossing]. This is twelve miles from Fall Creek. Traveled five miles up Raft River and camped after recrossing it [second crossing]. Grass in adundance and plenty of wood. Raft River is a small, sluggish and miry stream with its banks thickly set with willows. Some fish in this river. [Aug. 5, 1850. Loveland laid over on Sunday the 4th] Traveling up Raft River. Crossed it again [third crossing] and nooned. Made nine miles. Grass and wood plenty. Evenng, here we left the river to the left and took across the bottom toward the mountain until we struck a fork of Raft River [Cassia Creek], distance from the main river to this fork nine miles. Here the Hudspeth’s Cutoff road comes in again. James Berry Brown: [Aug. 18, 1859] Crossed several little creeks of pure, cold water this morning, upon the last of which we nooned. Then left Lewis river and had 10 miles of dusty roads in a south direction to Raft River. Which we crossed [first crossing] and went up 1½ miles before camping. Below here a road takes off in a western direction to Oregon. [Aug. 19, 1859] Road soon crossed Raft River again, and followed up the eastern side [second crossing]. here in a bend of the river we had a long dusty stretch without water. Come to the river about noon and camped. In the afternoon crossed raft river again to the western side [third crossing]. here the road left the river and taking a south Western course around the base of the mountains we come to a small branch of Raft river in 9 miles [Cassia Creek], this last 9 miles was gravel[l]y, smooth and hard. B ased on the foregoing diary descriptions, as well as discussions with Randy Brown, Larry Jones, and Lyle Woodbury, the following historical commentary will appear in the forthcoming Trails West revised Emigrant Trails West guide to its markers from the Raft River to the Humboldt Sink. |
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HISTORICAL COMMENTARY FOR MARKER C-1
After parting company with Joseph Chiles’ pack train at Fort Hall in September 1843, Joseph Walker guided his six mule-drawn wagons and 25 emigrants southwest until reaching the Raft River where he turned south to pioneer a wagon trail to the Humboldt River. Next year, Isaac Hitchcock guided the eleven-wagon Stephens Party along this same route. By 1846 this “parting of the ways” (California Trail branching off the Oregon Trail) was well established. After reaching the Raft River on Aug. 10, 1846, Virgil Pringle could comment as a matter-of-fact: “… at this place the Oregon and California road fork. We took the California road.” Emigrants came to know this Raft River route to the Humboldt River as the Fort Hall Road.
Upon reaching the Raft River in the vicinity of Calder Creek (near Marker C-1), emigrants heading for California could not turn south on the east side of the river. Deep gullies formed by runoffs from North Chapin Mountain, between Calder Creek and Hegler Canyon, prevented wagon travel. By crossing the river to the west side, wagon trains could turn south on level ground at the base of the bluffs until crossing the river a second time south of Hegler Canyon (near Marker C-2).
With the opening of the Salt Lake Cutoff in 1848 and the Hudspeth Cutoff in 1849, the Raft River turn-off received much less traffic. However, the opening of the Lander Trail to Fort Hall in 1858 gave new life to the Raft River route to the Humboldt River. Taking the Lander Trail in 1859, James Berry Brown will be one of these emigrants using the Raft River route.
The “parting of the ways” is located on the west side of the Raft River in the vicinity of an Oregon-California Trails Association [OCTA] plaque commemorating three emigrant graves which now have a fence around them. A short distance west of the fenced-in grave site, the Oregon Trail can be seen heading west up the bluff. There are two other Oregon Trail branches ascending the bluff (both identified with Carsonite markers), one 0.3 miles north and the other 0.8 miles south of the OCTA plaque marking the “parting of the ways.” Near the southern most branch ascending the bluff is another fenced grave site. Just to the west of this grave site, the trail pictured in the 1931 photo can still be seen heading south for about a mile.
Permission to visit the OCTA plaque, graves, and trail remains must be obtained from Lyle Woodbury at his farm south of Marker C-1. His phone number is (208) 349-5591.
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