California National Historic Trail

Alvin Aaron Coffey

Archy Lee

Bridget “Biddy” Mason

Eliza Donner Houghton

Emily Fisher

Hiram Young

J. Goldsborough Bruff

Mary Ellen Pleasant

Fearing an invasion by the approaching US Army in 1857, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Brigham Young evacuated Salt Lake City and ordered the Mormon Militia to prevent the soldiers from entering the valley. The federal troops would come through Fort Bridger, a trading post in in present-day southeastern Wyoming, and pass through Echo Canyon, about 50 miles northeast of Salt Lake City, before following the California-Mormon Trail up Big Mountain.

As American settlers surged westward across the eastern woodlands and prairies in the early 19th century, they pushed American Indians out of their ancestral homes. The U.S. government resettled many of those displaced Eastern tribes —the Kickapoo, Delaware, Potawatomi, and others— in congressionally designated Indian Territory west of the Missouri River and south of the Platte. The resettled Eastern tribes were among the first Indians encountered by emigrants through Kansas.

"And now Oh God comes the saddest record of my life for this day my husband accidentally shot himself and was buried by the wayside and oh, my heart is breaking…" The fatal accident of July 30, 1864, near present-day Glenrock, Wyoming, left William Ringo’s family fatherless on the California Trail, some thousand miles from their destination. He is also know as Johnny, Johnny Ringo. That Johnny Ringo.

Take a five-mile roundtrip hike along the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail near Truckee, Cal., to explore one of the California Trail’s more difficult passages through the Sierra Nevada! Find out how trail travelers surmounted the pass and how you can visit today.

Interested in the Oregon and California Trails at Alcove Spring? Take a look at these interpretive exhibits and listen to their audio descriptions.

California was a place of both hope and danger for enslaved African Americans. The state’s antislavery laws and plentiful business opportunities provided chances for a fresh start. These business opportunities, however, also attracted dishonest men looking to earn a quick buck. As we shall see, Alvin Coffey experienced both extremes during his three journeys across the California Trail.

California entered the Union as a free state, but that did not mean that enslaved people were magically emancipated upon entering. Take, for example, the case of Archy Lee, who reached Sacramento in October 1857 with his enslaver, Charles Stovall. Despite California’s anti-slavery status, the eighteen-year-old Lee ended up in an all-out fight for his freedom.

Download one of these booklets and begin your state by state trail adventure! The Auto Tour Route (ATR) guides provide an overview of local trail history while giving driving directions to suggested points of interest along the trail. There are auto tour route guides available for the trail across MO, KS, NE, CO, WY, ID, UT, and NV.