The Siskiyou Trail: The Archaeology of an Emigrant Wagon Road

Timeline:

c.a. 10,000 B.C.

Native American people arrive in northern California and southwest Oregon. By the time Europeans arrive, the Oregon-California trail is part of a well used travel network maintained by Takelma, Shasta, Klamath, and other Indian people

Winter, 1826-27 Peter Skeen Ogden, a fur trapper, is the first White man over the Siskiyou Summit as he explores, with Indian guides, the State of Jefferson for the British Hudson’s Bay Company.

1830s British “fur brigades” continue to use the trail during expeditions to and from California from Fort Vancouver. The first Americans visit the trail, driving cattle from California to their new settlements in the Willamette Valley.

1840s Gold Rush! With Oregon and California firmly in U.S. hands, gold is discovered. Two-thirds of the White population of Oregon travel over the trail on their way to the gold fields. The first wagon crosses the summit in 1849

1850s Yreka, Jacksonville, Ashland, and other State of Jefferson towns are established. The Americans wage war against the Takelma and Shasta Indians, who they eventually kill or remove to reservation.

1855-60 The trail over the Siskiyou summit is surveyed for the construction of a Territorial Road. Heading south, Barron’s Mountain House is the final stop in Oregon, and Cole’s stage station, on Cottonwood Creek, is the first stop in California. Regular mail and passenger service begins over the summit. Jesse and Lindsay Applegate collect 25 cents for every horseman and $1.50 for each wagon using the road.

1887 The Southern Pacific Railroad is completed over the Siskiyou Summit.

20th Century Modern highway building starts with Highway 99 and reaches its current configuration with the completion of Interstate 5 in the 1960s.

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Southern Oregon University

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c.a. 10,000 B.C.	Native American people arrive in northern California and southwest Oregon. By the time Europeans arrive, the Oregon-California trail is part of a well used travel network maintained by Takelma, Shasta, Klamath, and other Indian people
Winter, 1826-27	Peter Skeen Ogden, a fur trapper, is the first White man over the Siskiyou Summit as he explores, with Indian guides, the State of Jefferson for the British Hudson’s Bay Company.
1830s	British “fur brigades” continue to use the trail during expeditions to and from California from Fort Vancouver. The first Americans visit the trail, driving cattle from California to their new settlements in the Willamette Valley.
1840s	Gold Rush! With Oregon and California firmly in U.S. hands, gold is discovered. Two-thirds of the White population of Oregon travel over the trail on their way to the gold fields. The first wagon crosses the summit in 1849
1850s	Yreka, Jacksonville, Ashland, and other State of Jefferson towns are established. The Americans wage war against the Takelma and Shasta Indians, who they eventually kill or remove to reservation.
1855-60	The trail over the Siskiyou summit is surveyed for the construction of a Territorial Road. Heading south, Barron’s Mountain House is the final stop in Oregon, and Cole’s stage station, on Cottonwood Creek, is the first stop in California. Regular mail and passenger service begins over the summit. Jesse and Lindsay Applegate collect 25 cents for every horseman and $1.50 for each wagon using the road.
1887	The Southern Pacific Railroad is completed over the Siskiyou Summit.
20th Century	Modern highway building starts with Highway 99 and reaches its current configuration with the completion of Interstate 5 in the 1960s.