Historic California Emigrant Trail by Jeep

In June, 2019, nine of us in five Jeeps left California for Idaho to retrace the historic California Emigrant Trail. The group was based out of the "Mud, Sweat & Gears" 4x4 club of Sonora, CA.

(A great amount of credit for this trip goes to the leaders of our expedition, Robert & Terry Easley. Bob put many hours into laying out the route that three of his great uncles had taken in 1850 to the California gold fields. Only one of the uncles survived to return east again.)

The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about 3,000 miles across the western half of North America from the Missouri River to what is now California. It took five years of labor to find and develop a route that could handle settlers and their wagons before it was opened.

The first half of the California Trail followed the same corridor as the Oregon and Mormon Trails, along the Platte, North Platte, and Sweetwater rivers to Wyoming. In what is today Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah, the California and Oregon trails split into several different cutoffs.

Starting in late 1848 until the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, more than 250,000 businessmen, farmers, pioneers and miners passed over the Trail to California.

The traffic was heavy enough that in just two years the new settlers added so many people to California that by 1850 it qualified for admission as the 31st state with 120,000 residents.

Ruts from wagon wheels and names of emigrants, written with axle grease on rocks, can still be seen in the City of Rocks National Reserve in southern Idaho.

Excellent and interesting resources are available for information on the Trail. Our favorite source is https://emigranttrailswest.org.

Trails West has over 700 markers delineating over 2000 miles of emigrant trails stretching from southern Idaho and Utah, across Nevada, and into California and Oregon. They produce and sell driving guides to most of the trails the emigrants used to enter California and southern Oregon.

Some of the narration materials for this YouTube are taken from their website, as well as from Wikipedia.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you’d like to explore this trail please be aware that some of it crosses private property and permission to cross should be obtained beforehand.

Narration material sources include Wikipedia and https://emigranttrailswest.org/

Music credits (After opening theme)
Banjo it Up - SFX
Acoustic Folk Instrumental - Hyde
Avacado Street - Wes Hutchinson
Lazy Afternoon Sun - Dan Lebowitz
Park side - Dan Lebowitz
Run One Down - Dan Lebowitz
Despite the Traffic - Wes Hutchinson
Grand Canyon - Lohstana David
Mellow Jeeper - Kenneth Johnson*
Room for Two? - Dan Lebowitz
Succotash - Silent Partner
*Thoughtful - Kenneth Johnson
Acoustic Folk Instrumental - Hyde
Succotash - Silent Partner
All Good in the Wood - Audionautix
*Unpublished musical compositions
Others used under Creative Commons Licensing. Available on YouTube and further individual attribution statements are available there for each piece.

©2019 Kenneth Johnson



Ken’s rig (Black):
2011 JK Rubicon Unlimited
3.8 liter, 6-speed manual
5.13 gears
4” Ready Lift®
Synergy® flip drag link/tie rod
Rubicon Express® adjustable front control arms, and transfer case skid plate
Synergy® ball joints
35” Iron Man tires on Pacer LT Mod 17” wheels
OR-FAB® front bumper
Rubicon 10th Anniversary rear bumper with Smittybilt® Gen2 tire carrier
Smittybilt® XRC 12k winch
Smittybilt® - XRC Series body cladding
Rugged Ridge® Hi-Lift Jack Carrier
Flow Master Hush Power exhaust
MetalCloak® Overland fenders
Kargo Master Safari Roof Rack
ARB® Maximum Output Twin Air Compressor Unit
(Also running the Kleinn® on-board air system and train horns)
Uniden PRO 520xl CB
Oh... And a “New Car” scented air freshener!

Видео Historic California Emigrant Trail by Jeep канала Ken TheJeepGuy