NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY TRINITY TRAIL FORT READING. Ill 



elevation of 2,141 feet above camp was gained. The snow was about four inches deep upon the 

 top. In the winter it sometimes renders the trail impassable. A sudden descent conducted to 

 the head-waters of a branch of Trinity river, which flows, in a deep and narrow ravine, between 

 heavily timbered ridges. We were compelled to cross and re-cross this stream eleven times at 

 bad fords, which became more and more rocky as they grew deeper. At length we encamped 

 near a public house, after a hard day s march of twenty-four miles. This very bad trail, is, at 

 present, the most travelled route between Yreka and the settled part of the Sacramento valley. 



November 13. To-day we continued our course down the narrow valley, crossing the stream 

 five times more at very rocky fords. It received several small tributaries, which increased its size to 

 nearly a hundred feet in width and about three feet in depth. The current was rapid. At the 

 point where the river first bends abruptly toward the west, the trail leaves it and crosses Trinity 

 mountains, the divide between it and Clear creek. A spur from the main ridge, lying between 

 two immense ravines, extends about six miles towards Trinity river. The trail winds up the 

 steep end of this spur, until an elevation of nearly 2,000 feet above the water is gained, and 

 then follows along the top to the main ridge, through a forest of pine and oak. The descent of 

 2,543 feet to Clear creek is exceedingly abrupt. Although much labor has been expended upon 

 the trail, this mountain is a very great obstacle to travel. We encamped at the first house we 

 reached in the valley, after a hard march of about twenty-four miles. 



November 14. This morning we followed a pack trail about five miles down the narrow 

 ravine of Clear creek to a mill, which is the terminus of the wagon road from Shasta. A few 

 miles further on, we reached French gulch, a celebrated place for gold washing. The valley 

 of the creek was here about a quarter of a mile in width, and the water had been conducted 

 through it in every direction, by ditches. As many as a hundred men were engaged in digging 

 and washing gold when we passed, and quite a little village had sprung up near the road. I 

 was told that although the ground had been dug over several times, the amount of gold seemed 

 to be undiminished. 



We continued to follow the narrow valley of Clear creek, occasionally crossing low spurs from 

 the sides to avoid bends, until we reached a few houses called Whiskey town. At this place 

 the road left the stream, and passed through an open, rolling country to Shasta, one of the 

 principal towns in northern Californa. Here \ve encamped, after travelling about twenty-one 

 miles. 



November 15. To-day we arrived at Fort Reading, distant about seventeen miles from 

 Shasta, and thus completed the field work of the survey. The road between the town and the 

 Sacramento river, which we crossed at Johnson s ferry, led through an open and undulating 

 region From the ferry to the fort, it passed over a nearly level plateau, in some places 

 well wooded, and in others entirely destitute of trees. We were received with great kindness 

 and attention by the only officers at the post, Major F. 0. Wyse and Lieutenant D. R. Ransom, 

 both of the 3d artillery. 



Lieutenant Williamson arrived from San Francisco a few days afterwards. He considered 

 the season so far advanced as to render it inexpedient to attempt any exploration of the 

 Sierra Nevada, near the sources of Carson river, before the ensuing spring, particularly as the 

 most important examinations contemplated had been already anticipated by the State. Orders 

 were soon received from the War Department, directing him to dispose of the outfit and return 

 at once to Washington to prepare the report, maps, profiles, &c., of the survey already com 

 pleted. The party reached the city in the latter part of January, 1856, and immediately 

 entered upon office work. 



