Podcast
Questions and Answers
What was the condition of the grass and trees along the Humboldt River Valley?
What was the condition of the grass and trees along the Humboldt River Valley?
What was the composition of the 'firewood' along the Humboldt River?
What was the composition of the 'firewood' along the Humboldt River?
Where did travelers have to cross before finding the Truckee River or Carson River?
Where did travelers have to cross before finding the Truckee River or Carson River?
Study Notes
Pacific Trails
- By 1847, two major alternative routes through Utah and Wyoming led to Northern California, starting from Jim Bridger's Fort Bridger (established 1842) in present-day Wyoming.
- Fort Bridger was situated on the Green River, where the Mormon Trail turned southwest over the Wasatch Range to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Salt Lake Cutoff
- The Salt Lake Cutoff (established 1848) went north and west of the Great Salt Lake and rejoined the California Trail in the City of Rocks in present-day Idaho.
- The cutoff was approximately 190 miles (310 km) long.
Oregon and California Trails
- The main trails crossed the Yellow River on several ferries and trails, leading to or bypassing Fort Bridger.
- The trails then crossed over a range of hills to the Great Basin drainage of the Bear River (Great Salt Lake).
- Past present-day Soda Springs, Idaho, the trails initially turned northwest, following the Portneuf River (Idaho) valley to Fort Hall.
- Fort Hall was a British Hudson's Bay Company post (established 1836) on the Snake River in present-day Idaho.
Trail Junction
- From Fort Hall, the trails went about 50 miles (80 km) southwest along the Snake River Valley to a "parting of the ways" trail junction at the Raft and Snake rivers.
- The California Trail from the junction followed the Raft River to the City of Rocks in Idaho near the present Nevada-Idaho-Utah tripoint.
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Description
Test your knowledge of historic frontier forts and early western trails with this quiz. Explore the significance of Jim Bridger's Fort Bridger and the Salt Lake Cutoff in the context of westward expansion and the California Gold Rush.
