December 30, 1970 (12 pages)

— — x 0 = Se Scrap Book SS Yanr ‘dmund Kinyon Bar Road. (From the collection of D.O, McKellips, Oakland). — > to 300 feet in depth. originated in Yuba County and sections of wagon road were ks of trees with the butts upstream. Tribu Pass. to the e, ill and on or to intersect the main line at Smartv that consider must period that of The student of the history t passen~ and igh fre one but had ia Californ all of south Central Placerthe City, Virginia g expandin rapidly the to ger route ville-Echo Summit route. No practicable wagon road over the Donner Summit was built until later, nor was that route widely used during the full decade of horse-drawn freight and stage » in places contains petrified, water-worn rious size such as any regulation river would , its entire length. In truth, the Big Blue has ; of a river except that the water flow which nel has disappeared. . the’ bosom of the Dead Rivers of the Sierra ret of how they got where they are, and why ory of upheaval, inadequate as it is, and in as it seems, alone accounts for . river channels traversing a high mountain (Chapter XXII 'HE GREAT HIGHWAY overy of rich silver and gold mines on the and the prospect of that country y mountains @ large and flourishing mining population, ble: attention in different parts of the state onstruction of transmountain wagon roads. are being taken in other places for the Is to the new diggings and Nevada (City) d her sister towns, We are informed that route to Nevada is that by way of Eureka or hat the distance here to Silver City, one hundred miles, The following stations route have been furnished us: >» Eureka, 26 miles; Eureka to Jackson's ckson's Ranch to Summit (Henness Pass), gk Ranch, Steamboat Valley, 45 nch to Silver City, 12 miles. Total, 102 at is hEVADA DEMOCRAT, Nov, 2, 1859. linked through Brown's Valley to Oregon House, Camptonville, transportation to the Washoe, The Great Highway became an alternate and competing route with the Placerville route, Sac Sacramento to Marysramento River steamboat landings from ay. Food and feed ville deposited freight for the Great in thousands carried supplies originated along the way. Stages a, the rush to the Big-Bonanz The Northern Mines had important branches of that base line. One drove up from Marysville. Another was the Sacra eport Bridg the were mento-Nevada City-Bowman route. Added and h branc ton n-Mil Bowma FlatSpenceville branch, the Dutch several lesser branches. Each was hastily put into use by linkyears ing up emigrant roads or building new roads, For two c Pacifi al Centr the of Dutch Flat was the eastern terminal t freigh to erred transf were t Railroad. Huge quantities of freigh wagons at that point and hauled across Bear Valley, up the rug se ged Culbertson grade which had been chopped out by Chine Ranch Bowman of laborers, and on to Henness Pass by way d dashe City a Nevad and and Milton. Through Grass Valley , bepisscores of chartered stages packed with frock-coated to get rd eastwa ing hurry men sional profes and ess toled busin road ville Spence their fingers into the Comstock pie. The old mento Sacra the In quota, of sinister import carried its heavy Valley were the river towns of Nicolas and Knights Landing . to which freight was consigned. The growers of a vast and pro way, the prefervid supply line from the id Way points to the abounding Comstock. y -ductive region looked to Henness Pass and the Great Highwa Si the of nds thousa ing for’ their outlet to the consum the Comstock. San up theed ~ ‘(he main line of the Great. Highway follow ossing of the Sierran Summit which had to North San Juan and beyond, At Freeman's Crossing and a y the volume of traffic over it was again b the soon into Sierra County, Thence on the gradual climto ed ~ skirte op it sl rn easte the On Pass, ss Henne to and t summi he the first mention I find in the contem : I shall Ception in this region of what sah was known as the Henness Pass, days of emigrant travel. That ®‘catliest Scant use and that after the subsidence Juan Ridge between the South and the Middle Forks of the Yuba covered bridge over Oregon Creek it cut into Yuba county and es one of the anomalies of trans Webber and Independence lakes, crossed the broad and nearly he mMvements in Neyada County to provide established routes to the Comstock, the final link being the Washoe and the Comstock, like movements level Sierra Valley, entered the Washoe country and followed houses and relay stations every five to six miles necessary. These the names of stops westward of the pass: Jackson's Meadows, Milton, Keystone Gap, Middlewater, Harris Bars, Bageley's, Fred's Ranch, Plum Valley, Snellman's and others now extinct, At Milton the important branches from Nevada City and Dutch Flat were received. Likewise the thronged Camptonville road which linked Marysville through Brown's Valley, These some of the namesof the stations, either directly ing Alleghany, Forest City, on the main line or on connectroads: Pike City (three towns of importance), Nigger Tent, Our House, Sleighville,. Mountain House. Historic Sleighville House, which still stands is deserving of special mention. It was the toll station on the road from Camptonville to Mountain House and Goodyear's Bar, built by Peter Yore far ahead of the Comstock rush, There, during the a snow season, runners replaced wheels, It cost five dollars person to travel the Yore road. Freight loads in proportion, ‘Coal Oil Bend, Nigger Tent and Graveyard were among the waystations. The large Yore family rest in an individual graveyard at Sleighville House, one of the markers recording, "1853," Further down was French Corral, headquarters for the first long-distance telephone line of the inter-mountain region, Bridgeport, Anthony House, Mooney's Flat and Timbuctoo, to Many local branciies -::; he way, one such leading the long Spenceville road of dark traditions which drove south and west to cross Bear River and reach Sacramento River or Feather River landings beyond. Huge teams of horses and mules toiled over the Great Highway, for in addition to hauling to the Comstock they supplied many thousands of people constituting mountain populations. A two-horse span would have been a novelty. Predominating s. were wagon trains drawn by from six to ten animalThe driver usually rode one of the wheelers and controlled his strung-out team with a jerkline. And how amazing the trained intelligence of those animals! When one such outfit despite bells met another on a narrow grade—that was trouupgrade thetom ble, But the animals knew their roles. By cus outfit had the right of way. Instinctively the unhitched animals of the downgrade team would cling to the bare declivity or even permit themselves to be swung into space with ropes. At times the wagon and its trailer had to be taken apart to provide passage for upgrade team. And in seasons of deep snow of with all) the draft stock wore snowshoes (on all four feet the sangfroid of an experienced human snowshoer. The shoes s steel and the ‘were flat blocks of wood clamped to the hoof he soon but wide, step to shoes of the animals. The wearer had beexisted which ding understan of learned that trick, The bond trabeautiful a as lingered animals his and driver tween the dition of the Northern Mines, Nor is visible recognition entirely a lacking, On the Forest Hill. road in Placer County stands3, July Died Joe; “Old n, inscriptio rough marker bearing the s It on, 1901." Old Joe, a stage horse, died with his harnes was the bullet of a highwayman that snuffed out his life. (CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.) West of the summit the exigencies of the grades made road ea e e te tet — peanmene f es —= ———— Rights reserved by the _Nevada County Publishing Company ———.__= stiles x 8

— — x 0 = Se Scrap Book SS Yanr ‘dmund Kinyon Bar Road. (From the collection of D.O, McKellips, Oakland). — > to 300 feet in depth. originated in Yuba County and sections of wagon road were ks of trees with the butts upstream. Tribu Pass. to the e, ill and on or to intersect the main line at Smartv that consider must period that of The student of the history t passen~ and igh fre one but had ia Californ all of south Central Placerthe City, Virginia g expandin rapidly the to ger route ville-Echo Summit route. No practicable wagon road over the Donner Summit was built until later, nor was that route widely used during the full decade of horse-drawn freight and stage » in places contains petrified, water-worn rious size such as any regulation river would , its entire length. In truth, the Big Blue has ; of a river except that the water flow which nel has disappeared. . the’ bosom of the Dead Rivers of the Sierra ret of how they got where they are, and why ory of upheaval, inadequate as it is, and in as it seems, alone accounts for . river channels traversing a high mountain (Chapter XXII 'HE GREAT HIGHWAY overy of rich silver and gold mines on the and the prospect of that country y mountains @ large and flourishing mining population, ble: attention in different parts of the state onstruction of transmountain wagon roads. are being taken in other places for the Is to the new diggings and Nevada (City) d her sister towns, We are informed that route to Nevada is that by way of Eureka or hat the distance here to Silver City, one hundred miles, The following stations route have been furnished us: >» Eureka, 26 miles; Eureka to Jackson's ckson's Ranch to Summit (Henness Pass), gk Ranch, Steamboat Valley, 45 nch to Silver City, 12 miles. Total, 102 at is hEVADA DEMOCRAT, Nov, 2, 1859. linked through Brown's Valley to Oregon House, Camptonville, transportation to the Washoe, The Great Highway became an alternate and competing route with the Placerville route, Sac Sacramento to Marysramento River steamboat landings from ay. Food and feed ville deposited freight for the Great in thousands carried supplies originated along the way. Stages a, the rush to the Big-Bonanz The Northern Mines had important branches of that base line. One drove up from Marysville. Another was the Sacra eport Bridg the were mento-Nevada City-Bowman route. Added and h branc ton n-Mil Bowma FlatSpenceville branch, the Dutch several lesser branches. Each was hastily put into use by linkyears ing up emigrant roads or building new roads, For two c Pacifi al Centr the of Dutch Flat was the eastern terminal t freigh to erred transf were t Railroad. Huge quantities of freigh wagons at that point and hauled across Bear Valley, up the rug se ged Culbertson grade which had been chopped out by Chine Ranch Bowman of laborers, and on to Henness Pass by way d dashe City a Nevad and and Milton. Through Grass Valley , bepisscores of chartered stages packed with frock-coated to get rd eastwa ing hurry men sional profes and ess toled busin road ville Spence their fingers into the Comstock pie. The old mento Sacra the In quota, of sinister import carried its heavy

Valley were the river towns of Nicolas and Knights Landing . to which freight was consigned. The growers of a vast and pro way, the prefervid supply line from the id Way points to the abounding Comstock. y -ductive region looked to Henness Pass and the Great Highwa Si the of nds thousa ing for’ their outlet to the consum the Comstock. San up theed ~ ‘(he main line of the Great. Highway follow ossing of the Sierran Summit which had to North San Juan and beyond, At Freeman's Crossing and a y the volume of traffic over it was again b the soon into Sierra County, Thence on the gradual climto ed ~ skirte op it sl rn easte the On Pass, ss Henne to and t summi he the first mention I find in the contem : I shall Ception in this region of what sah was known as the Henness Pass, days of emigrant travel. That ®‘catliest Scant use and that after the subsidence Juan Ridge between the South and the Middle Forks of the Yuba covered bridge over Oregon Creek it cut into Yuba county and es one of the anomalies of trans Webber and Independence lakes, crossed the broad and nearly he mMvements in Neyada County to provide established routes to the Comstock, the final link being the Washoe and the Comstock, like movements level Sierra Valley, entered the Washoe country and followed houses and relay stations every five to six miles necessary. These the names of stops westward of the pass: Jackson's Meadows, Milton, Keystone Gap, Middlewater, Harris Bars, Bageley's, Fred's Ranch, Plum Valley, Snellman's and others now extinct, At Milton the important branches from Nevada City and Dutch Flat were received. Likewise the thronged Camptonville road which linked Marysville through Brown's Valley, These some of the namesof the stations, either directly ing Alleghany, Forest City, on the main line or on connectroads: Pike City (three towns of importance), Nigger Tent, Our House, Sleighville,. Mountain House. Historic Sleighville House, which still stands is deserving of special mention. It was the toll station on the road from Camptonville to Mountain House and Goodyear's Bar, built by Peter Yore far ahead of the Comstock rush, There, during the a snow season, runners replaced wheels, It cost five dollars person to travel the Yore road. Freight loads in proportion, ‘Coal Oil Bend, Nigger Tent and Graveyard were among the waystations. The large Yore family rest in an individual graveyard at Sleighville House, one of the markers recording, "1853," Further down was French Corral, headquarters for the first long-distance telephone line of the inter-mountain region, Bridgeport, Anthony House, Mooney's Flat and Timbuctoo, to Many local branciies -::; he way, one such leading the long Spenceville road of dark traditions which drove south and west to cross Bear River and reach Sacramento River or Feather River landings beyond. Huge teams of horses and mules toiled over the Great Highway, for in addition to hauling to the Comstock they supplied many thousands of people constituting mountain populations. A two-horse span would have been a novelty. Predominating s. were wagon trains drawn by from six to ten animalThe driver usually rode one of the wheelers and controlled his strung-out team with a jerkline. And how amazing the trained intelligence of those animals! When one such outfit despite bells met another on a narrow grade—that was trouupgrade thetom ble, But the animals knew their roles. By cus outfit had the right of way. Instinctively the unhitched animals of the downgrade team would cling to the bare declivity or even permit themselves to be swung into space with ropes. At times the wagon and its trailer had to be taken apart to provide passage for upgrade team. And in seasons of deep snow of with all) the draft stock wore snowshoes (on all four feet the sangfroid of an experienced human snowshoer. The shoes s steel and the ‘were flat blocks of wood clamped to the hoof he soon but wide, step to shoes of the animals. The wearer had beexisted which ding understan of learned that trick, The bond trabeautiful a as lingered animals his and driver tween the dition of the Northern Mines, Nor is visible recognition entirely a lacking, On the Forest Hill. road in Placer County stands3, July Died Joe; “Old n, inscriptio rough marker bearing the s It on, 1901." Old Joe, a stage horse, died with his harnes was the bullet of a highwayman that snuffed out his life. (CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.) West of the summit the exigencies of the grades made road ea e e te tet — peanmene f es —= ———— Rights reserved by the _Nevada County Publishing Company ———.__= stiles x 8