Mountains, Grass and Water: Explore the Hastings Cutoff and Overland Trail through Ruby Valley, Nevada

By Larry Hyslop

History Traveler Series #2

 Pause next to wagon ruts leading into Ruby Valley along the Hastings Cutoff. Look ahead at the barrier formed by the snow-covered Ruby Mountains.
 After so many miles of dry sagebrush, appreciate the abundance of water flowing down icy streams, and enjoy watching a spring add its clear water to the Ruby Marshes.
 Watch steam rising from Sulphur Hot Springs, and imagine the approach of a group of Western Shoshone.
 Stand at the site of historic Fort Ruby, beneath the expanse of juniper/pinyon pine woodland. Look up at the summit of Overland Pass that carried pony express riders, mounted cavalry and stagecoaches.

This book follows two historically important trails, the Hastings Cutoff and the Overland Trail, through the lush Ruby Valley. Beginning at the valley’s eastern approach, historian Charles Greenhaw describes the vivid history of this valley shadowed by 11,000-foot peaks of the Ruby Mountains.

It is a valley once visited by such western notables as John Fremont, Kit Carson, Lansford Hastings, George Donner, and Samuel Clements. Wagons followed the Hastings Cutoff the length of the valley. The Pony Express and Overland Stage crossed the southern end of the valley. Diary excerpts bring alive the appreciation of early travelers for the valley’s ample supplies of grass and water.

Maps and route descriptions help historical time travelers visit sites throughout the valley.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Larry Hyslop
• Release date: Dec 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301274871

Larry Hyslop

Larry Hyslop lives in Elko, Nevada, where he contributes the “Nature Notes” weekly column to the Elko Daily Free Press. He travels extensively around the West, visiting national Parks.Larry has written nature descriptions covering the landscapes of national parks, along with guides to the Ruby Mountains and Elko area. He worked with Charles Greenhaw to develop guides to the California Trail through Northeastern Nevada.Grayjaypress.com

Book preview

Mountains, Grass and Water

Explore the Hastings Cutoff and Overland Trail through Ruby Valley

Charles Greenhaw

Larry Hyslop

Gray Jay Press

Elko, NV

Copyright 2003 C&L Publishing

Second Edition

Copyright 2007 Gray Jay Press

All Rights Reserved

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the written permission of the publisher, with the exception of brief passages embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For ordering information, contact:

Gray Jay Press

2033 High Noon Rd.

Elko, NV 89801

[e-mail]

For printed copies

grayjaypress.com

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All photos and maps are by Larry Hyslop

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Cover photo: Ruby Mountains from the north valley.

Back cover photo: Pond in Ruby Marshes.

Thanks

Janet and Cindy for putting up with our ideas and projects. Paul Sawyer, Great Basin College Media Services (cover design), and BLM personnel for looking over our manuscript.

Authors’ Notes

This book is the second in a series of four guides to aid commentaries on the emigrant roads across Nevada. Each book uses a Nevada town as a starting point.

The series is designed and written to help people appreciate the California Emigrant Trail, which follows alongside and sometimes beneath Interstate 80 across Nevada. Because of Nevada’s rich historical tapestry, these books also cover other historical information besides the emigrant trails.

We have one goal in mind, to get people to visit the Nevada countryside. There, they can appreciate both its wild nature and its historical depth. Hopefully, readers will use this guide to visit trail sites, gaining an understanding of the rich heritage of Nevada and the opening of the American West.

The tour in this book is meant to guide readers to important, specific sites along the trail. It is not meant as a guide to follow the California Trail across the vastness of Nevada. With this in mind, the easiest route has been used to access each historical site. There may be other ways of getting there, perhaps by using a more historic route, or one approaching the site from the same direction as most emigrants did. Again, our system is to get people there using the easiest possible route.

While this book can serve as a guide to these historical sites, it should not be the only source of information. The resource section of this book contains other sources for maps and trail guides.

Always remember to use caution when traveling off the pavement in rural Nevada. Follow common sense suggestions such as telling someone where you are going and when you will return. Carry water and means to extract your vehicle should it become stuck.

Emigrant Trails West is a primary guide to the trail markers placed by Trails West, Inc. over the last 30 years. Some of these markers are clearly visible but the guide is helpful in finding all the markers. Each marker has a site-specific quotation from an emigrant diary. Emigrant Trails West can be purchased at the Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko and at the OCTA online store.

Typical Trails West Marker placed by Trails West, Inc. The horizontal rails have site specific emigrant comments from diaries of the 1840s-1860s.

Carsonite marker

History Traveler Series

Entering the Great Basin: Explore the California Trail through Wells, Nevada, C&L Publishing, 2003.

Canyons, Cutoffs and Hot Springs: Explore the California Trail near Elko, Nevada, C&L Publishing, 2004.

Bloodshed, Crosses and Graves; Explore the California Trail through Battle Mountain, Nevada, Gray Jay Press, 2006.

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Contents

Mountains, Grass and Water

Western Shoshone

Mountain Men and Early Explorers

Hastings the Promoter

Historic South Ruby Valley

Ruby Valley Tour

Donner Spring Tour

Ruby Valley in Journals, Diaries, and Books

Chronology of the Hastings Cutoff

Bibliography

Resources

About the Authors

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Mountains, Grass and Water

Mountains bordering the northern valley

"We traveled south through one of the most beautiful valleys I ever saw."

John Wood, l850.

"It is the most fertile valley known to exist in the center of the Basin . . . Numerous streams flow into it. To the largest of these streams I gave the name Franklin River [for President Franklin Pierce] . . . all the streams are lined with extensive meadows."

Lt. Jim Beckwourth, 1854.

Thirty miles south of Interstate 80 is a valley best described as one of God’s better ideas. Trying to find words to express its landscape is like trying to rope the Ruby Mountains overshadowing it. The vastness is something felt even more than seen. During the long history of Ruby Valley, its most radical change came 150 years ago, when it became a gateway of Manifest Destiny. The valley changed rapidly in the l850s and l860s. But the transcontinental railroad, the cross-country auto line, and the airplane passed it by to the north, sparing a special place.

Gardner Creek near Secret Pass

Vital Statistics

Location:

Southern Elko County, Nevada, crossing into White Pine County. Approached from either Wells or Elko, Nevada.

Valley:

North-south trending, ten miles to 15 miles wide and 65 miles long