Verdi to Henness Pass Road on the old Lincoln Highway northern route, part 3

Dog Valley and Henness Pass Road from Verdi to Truckee is one of the most historic in California. Besides being the Lincoln Highway's original route, this was also the Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road (DFDLWR), and before that, an emigrant trail.

The first wagon train across The Sierra was the Stevens, Townsend, Murphy party, guided by Caleb Greenwood, a trapper, in 1844. They took the only way known to them, from the area known today as Verdi. They followed the Truckee River down its narrow canyon. This was a brutal passage as the emigrants often found themselves in the water working their way upstream. It may be that they were the only wagon train to use this passage as a newer, easier route had been discovered.

Sign at the Von Schmidt Obeilisk park in Verdi, at the California border line.

That newer route was the road we are about to travel on. In 1845 Caleb Greenwood, not wishing to repeat the Truckee River route, discovered the way we are venturing on. This route avoided the waters of The Truckee and used the ridge tops and not the canyons for travel. This was the same route the Donner Party followed on their way west.

Map showing both new and old routes from Verdi to Truckee. Click map for larger view.

Starting in 1864, this route was also the Dutch Flat Wagon Road, which became quite busy as travelers headed west and even busier during the silver boom in Nevada with thousands traveling east. Automobiles started using this road in 1901, and in 1913 the Lincoln Highway Association chose this way for its northern route. From 1864 to 1926, this was the main route into California from points east.

Automobile traveling west on the new Truckee River Route of the second generation Lincoln Highway, soon to be Highway 40. Photo from Lincoln Highway Traveler Newsletter.

The Dog Valley route as it was called was being prepared for it’s inclusion as the new state highway when in 1926 it was decided to build the more expensive, $889,894, and difficult Truckee River route. The Dog Valley Route would have been completed for $94,000. Apparently politics played a role in the new routes construction. After 1926 all traffic was diverted down the newer Truckee River Route, Highway 40. The Dog Valley Route was abandoned and became a county road.

Trey standing by Trail West “T” marker #24. The quote by Emigrant Isaac Wistar commented that “large pines, firs and cedars abound…some of which are fully six feet through.”

As we head up Dog Valley Road, it changes to Henness Pass Road, and we spot our first Trails West “T” marker, describing the immense trees, some 6 feet wide! The emigrant trail likely followed the present-day road's general route, though likely they used the sides of the hills for passage. In the photo above the Lincoln Highway is behind the photographer by about 10 yards.

Satellite image showing location and features. Click map for a closer view.

From this point up to the first summit, the road is quite rough, with the washboard effect very evident. Shake, rattle, and roll!

Verdi, Nevada to the California line on the northern route of the Lincoln Highway, Part 2

In our last post about Verdi, we explored the east side of town with its dirt Lincoln Highway and old metal bridge. That post can be found here. Now let’s head back into town, following the old road as we head towards the California border.

The photo above shows Verdi and a bridge in the distance. This photo was taken by the Central Pacific Railroad around 1868, and shows a wagon heading up the road on the far right. I wonder if this bridge is the earlier version of the Crystal Peak Toll Bridge.

Click the photo for a larger view. Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

As we approach the town, the Lincoln Highway makes a sharp right to cross the railroad tracks. There is a Nevada Historical monument by the tracks that mentions the “Great Train Robbery” that occurred here on November 4-5, 1870, by five desperadoes. The train was the Central Pacific Overland Express. $41,600 in gold coin was taken, and after a two-state search, they were all caught, tried, and convicted. More info here. 

Verdi History Center.

Sign mounted on Verdi History Center.

Once across the tracks, leave the first generation Lincoln Highway and turn left on 2nd Street, the second-generation highway. Just a couple of houses down on the left is the Verdi History Center. We have yet to come by when it’s open, but on the front of the building is a Lincoln Highway sign and a George A Wyman way-point sign.

George Wyman was a true pioneer, being the first person to cross the country on a motorized vehicle in 1903, fully ten years before the LincolnHighway. He rode and walked his motorcycle from San Francisco to New York, mostly following the railroad tracks. You can read more about this fascinating man and his epic journey here.

If you continue west on the 2nd generation Lincoln Highway, and just before the bridge, pull off and into Crystal Peak Park. There we can see the famous last crossing of the Truckee River. Above, we can see the Trails West “T” marker describing this place. There were 26th previous times that the emigrants would have to get wet crossing the river. It was quite tiring, and to reach the last crossing was something to get excited about.

We love these quiet places that, at one time, witnessed humanity on the move. Looking at the actual crossing below, we can well imagine the wagons, oxen, and people heading into the river from this side and exiting on the other.

The famous 27th emigrant crossing at the Truckee River, Verdi,Nevada, looking west.

Click photo for a larger version.

Leaving the park, we head back towards Verdi on the 2nd generation Lincoln until we reach the first generation road and turn left onto Bridge Street. In a bit, we reach the site of the Crystal Peak bridge built-in 1928. Before this bridge, this was known as “O’Neil’s crossing.”

You can read the plaque at the bridge in the photo on at right. Click for a larger view.

Crystal Peak Bridge crossing the Truckee River.

Crystal Peak cemetery, Verdi, Nevada.

Crossing the bridge, we head past the Crystal Peak Cemetery seen above. This area was a town by the name of Crystal Peak, and here are buried some of the former residents of that long-gone place. Now we are off into California, where we stop at the Von Schmidt obelisk.

Von Schmidt Obelisk, Verdi, Nevada.

This place is fantastic! The obelisk in the protective cage was one of four monuments set in place between 1872-73 to determine the state boundary line. There are descriptive signs in this small park that will explain the importance of this spot. One such plaque is shown below.

Descriptive plaque at the Von Schmidt obelisk park.

We have come to the end of today’s adventure. Monica and I are standing in Nevada, with the road still to be driven behind us. As the sign mentions, this part of the road will become quite rough and should only be traversed during the dry season. After this spot, we will climb up Henness Pass Road towards Dog Valley, the very same valley the Donner Party camped, and countless other emigrants.

The Lincoln Highway really is your road to adventure!

Monica and I at the border between California and Nevada on the old Lincoln Highway.

Map showing location of features discussed. Click map for larger view.

The Lincoln Highway, Verdi, Nevada

Monica and I took a trip to Verdi, Nevada on Wednesday, hoping to catch some fall color and experience some history. Verdi is on the old emigrant route as well as the transcontinental highway. We wanted to walk a section just outside of town that features three bridges or bridge sites, two railroad lines, the Truckee River, and of course, the Lincoln Highway.

Map of Verdi showing the 1913 Lincoln Highway in blue and the second, 1925 Lincoln, in green.

View of the first bridge site crossing the railroad. Check out the old wooden railings.

In the photo above, we can see the Lincoln Highway at the right turning left towards the first wooden bridge site that spanned the first set of railroad tracks. The photo below shows the site of the second bridge over the second set of railroad tracks. We are looking north from the roadbed. You can see the railroad tracks at the bottom. Both of these rail lines are live with trains running on them. Be alert!

Second bridge site along the Lincoln Highway, Verdi, Nevada.

Irrigation canal spillway with the Lincoln Highway.

Once the yesteryear driver crossed the second wooden bridge, they would follow the road around a horseshoe bend and ford an irrigation canal spillway, as seen in the photo above. Was this canal here before of after the Lincoln Highway? We don’t know and will have to do a bit of research to find out. Once the water was crossed, a quick left turn is made, and we head for a metal Lincoln Highway era bridge crossing the Truckee River.

Once we cross the metal bridge, the old road continues for another couple hundred yards and then merges with the second generation 1925 Lincoln Highway. While most of this walk is easy enough, there is a bit of scrambling through bushes and up some banks between the first bridge site and the second bridge site.

Below is a panorama showing just how many different modes of travel Verdi has seen come its way. We are looking east while standing on the Lincoln Highway. Be sure to click the photo for a larger view.

Click the photo for a larger view!

Below is a map showing the area and the various features we have discussed.

I searched for an image of the wooden bridges across the railroad tracks and came up with very little. However, there is a YouTube video of one of the wooden bridges, which we are told burned down on July 24, 2010, at 6:30 pm, having been struck by lightning. What a shame. Below is a portion of the video showing the old bridge. Heads up, there is music at the beginning if this video which might catch you by surprise. The bridge is 20 seconds into the video, while the music stops at 40 seconds. What a shame we missed seeing these old bridges.

This is early July showing all that we have before the bridge burned, starting with a few slides, then a refer train, and a single power move. I'm not sure i...

Exploring the Lincoln Highway in El Dorado County, Part 1

The Lincoln Highway was America’s first transcontinental highway in 1913. You could cross the country following local roads, but piecing them together into one grand cross-country trip was difficult. What the Lincoln Highway did was put a route that you could follow on a map, and along with directional signs, you could head out from Times Square, New York, and follow the road all the way to the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.

In California and Nevada, unlike other states, the Lincoln Highway spit into two separate routes. One route entered California near Verdi, Nevada, and roughly followed the current Interstate 80 to Sacramento. The other “scenic route” entered California at Stateline, Nevada, and roughly followed the current Highway 50 through Placerville and into Sacramento. Once in Sacramento both routes followed the same path to San Francisco.

The map above, which is interactive, can be found here at the Lincoln Highway Association website. I have marked the map with the location of the two routes and their entry spots along the border between Nevada and California. A motorist back in the day would make the decision on which route to follow when they were in Reno. It’s in Reno where the road splits and follows the two different routes. Leaving Reno the motorist headed down to Carson City and up and over the mountains to Stateline and South Lake Tahoe.

The photo above was taken at Stateline sometime after 1928. We are looking into Nevada from the California side, as we can see the Nevada state line sign on the right. The red arrow is pointing at a Lincoln Highway concrete directional post. 2,436 of these posts were installed by the Boy Scouts of America on September 1, 1928 at 9:00 AM, across the country. This was the Lincoln HighwayAssociation's final act as the Highway was now numbered, Highway 50, and the association disbanded. Since we know the date these markers were placed, any photo with the posts shown is after September 1928.

In the above photo we see a couple of tired looking scouts and their marker in 1928.

In our next blog post we will be traveling down Pioneer Trail, headed west on the old Lincoln Highway. The next stop will be along Pioneer Trail at a very cool old bridge site and a Trails West “T” marker letting us know this is also the old pioneer Johnson’s cut-off trail. The original 1913 route of the Lincoln Highway often followed the older pioneer trails over the mountains of California and Nevada, making it a great road to follow and experience our amazing history.