Transcribed by: Bonnie Lampley
Pictures by: JoAnne Saysette
Humboldt to Cold Springs. — Course west, road level, water sufficient for 150 head of stock at a time; good bunch grass on hill sides and heads of canons; distance 14 miles.
Rabbit Hole Springs. — Course north of west; road ascending about two miles through a low gap of mountain range, then descending slightly 8 miles; the rest nearly level to Rabbit Hole; bunch grass south east and south west for 3 miles; on left hand in ravings, water for from one to two hundred animals; distance 18 miles.
Black Rock. — Course north west; road first eight miles has a few gulches, the remainder is through an entire desert, perfectly level and hard; very little of anything growing on it; some good feed about the springs, but not extensive; water hot, but cools somewhat running off, and is healthy for animals; rye and salt grass in abundance 1½ miles north; distance 24 miles.
Granite Creek. — Course south of south west; road excellent, over a perfect desert, as smooth as a planed floor, and nearly as hard, and not a vestige of vegetation on it for 22 miles. This stream comes out of a notch of the mountain range on the right hand, pretty well at the end, leave desert by turning into this gap ½ mile for camp; bunch grass on foot hills. It will be readily seen that between this point and Rabbit Hole a material cut off could be effected, so that 46 miles might be made in 30, with fully as good roads, but no water; the cut off, however, would be but 6 miles longer than from Black Rock to Rabbit Hole.
Hot Spring Point. — South of south west, road level, distance 3 miles; grass all along on the left; boiling springs scattered all through, which makes it dangerous to let stock on.
Deep Springs. — North west; road level; here you double the extreme south end of mountain range; grass and water in abundance of the very best quality; this is a good place to lie over a day or two; distance 7 miles.
Buffalo Spring. — Course west, distance sixteen miles, road level; directly after leaving deep spring, you enter a desert; after passing 8 miles over an arm of it, then 8 miles through sage, you come to the bed of a large dry creek, its banks covered with rye grass for some distance; some water in holes which does no injury to stock; one half mile beyond this, and about two hundred paces on the right hand are the springs.
Smoke Creek Meadows. — Course west, distance 13 miles, six miles level ground, then 4 miles over low hills to creek; then up creek through cañon 3 miles to camp; here this creek forms an extensive valley from three hundred yards to two miles wide; its length is not ascertained; this valley produces clover, bunch grass, &c., of the most luxuriant growth.
Mud Springs. — Course west, distance 9 miles; you travel up Smoke Creek meadow two miles, then over the point of a low ridge into Rush Valley. This valley is 2 miles long by ½ miles wide; excellent grass and water; the road here is on a table land, up to 75 feet above the level of the plane or desert, and is perfectly level.
Susan River. — Course west 9 miles; 6 miles south west, and three miles west to camp; emigrants should start early from Mud Springs, as the road is covered with cobble stones, which makes it slow and tedious. It is nearly level, until you descend slightly to the valley of the stream. This is a delightful valley, its soil of the most productive kind, and is from 5 to 7 miles wide, and covered with clover, blue joint, red top, and bunch grass in great abundance; the stream abounds in mountain trout, which are easily taken with hook and line.
Head of the Valley. — West 14 miles; you cross Willow Creek 2 miles after leaving camp on Susan River. This stream rises in the west, runs east out of the Sierra Nevada into the valley, and about 20 or 25 miles down it, and then sinks and evaporates like the Humboldt and all the streams on the east of these mountains.
Summit Springs. — Immediately after leaving the valley, you enter open but heavy pine woods, (not unwelcome to the sun scorched emigrant,) and commence ascending the Sierra Nevada gradually; water 4 miles on right, and some grass—and again 5 miles on the left, but no grass, somewhat stony at places. The ascent is so gradual that on slight observation it seems as much down as up; in fact, a great part is level, and enough timber on one mile on each side of the road from the valley to the summit, to build a double railway track to the Missouri River—course west, distance 18 miles; grass and water.
Pine Creek. — North west to avoid a cluster of buttes, distance 8 miles, road level; grass and water.
Black Butte Creek. — North west 4 miles, then turning west to south west; grass and water, road level, distance 12 miles. The country here and for twenty miles back, must be considered the summit, as it is impossible to ascertain the precise place, owing to the flatness of the country. The small streams that rise on the Buttes around and run down their sides, all sink or form small lakes and marshes, there being not slope sufficient to run off their waters.
Black Butte. — Course south west, distance six miles; road heavy sand.
Pine Meadows. — West, distance 4 miles; road level and good; water and grass.
Hat Creek. — North west, distance 4 miles; road gradually sloping, only about 100 feet that a wagon wheel need be locked.
Lost Creek. — West, distance 2 miles, road nearly level.
John Hill’s Ranch or Deer Flat. — West, distance 14 miles, the two first miles slightly up hill, fifty or sixty feet only of which is steep; after a distance of 40 miles, embracing the entire western slope of the Sierra Nevada, it is almost a perfect grade to the Sacramento River.
McCumber’s Mills. — Eight miles; Shingle Town, 3 miles; Chorley’s Ranch, 4 miles; Payne & Smith’s, 6 miles; Dr. Baker’s, on Bear Creek, 7 miles; Fort Reading, on Cow Creek, 4 miles; Sacramento River, 3 miles.
Here emigrants can take whichever way they choose if this part of the valley does not suit them, or if they prefer the mines to cultivating the soil, they are in the centre of various mining localities—Olney Creek, Clear Creek, Shasta, Churn Creek, and Pitt River Diggings—all within five to twenty-five miles of the Emigrant Ferry on Sacramento River.
My estimates of distances, the whole route through, overrun those of Mr. Kleiser’s, as measured by his roadometer this fall.
JOHN A. DREIBELBIS.
Source: ARTICLE FROM SHASTA COURIER, NOVEMBER 19, 1853, PAGE 1:
Transcribed by: Bonnie Lampley
Pictures by: JoAnne Saysette
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