HISTORIC REFERENCES

Beringia - Bering Sea Land Bridge (12,000-18,000 BCE/end of last ice age)

• Wikipedia - Beringia 

• National Parks Service - Beringia 

First Peoples in Nevada/California - 7,000-9,000 years ago

• 50 State Guide - Nevada Early History/First Early Inhabitants of Nevada

• Indigenous Peoples of Nevada

• Britannica.com - Nevada State History 

Martis Culture Complex of the Washoe - ~2,000BCE - 500CE

• Wikipedia - Martis Peoples 

• Donner Summit Historical Society - Martis  

• Martis Spear/Dart Projectile 

• Spear Thrower (atlatl) - Wikipedia

• How to pronounce "Atlatl" - You Tube by Kurly Tlappyawa (Native Archaeologist) 

• Moonshine Ink - Martis, Maidu, Chief Truckee 

Washoe (Kings Beach Culture Complex) - 700CE - European Contact

• Wikipedia - Washoe People 

Shoshone

• Shoshone 

• Wikipedia - Shoshone

Plains Paiute

• Truckee-Donner Historical Society - Chief Truckee 

• Sarah Winnemucca - Devoted Her Life to Protecting Native Americans in the Face of an Expanding United States (Smithsonian Article)

California Tribes - 

• Wikipedia - Indigenous Peoples of California 

• List of Indigenous Peoples of California 

• Miwok

  • CA Parks - The Miwok People 

  • Luis and Salvador - Looking for Content

• Maidu 

  • Wikipedia - Maidu 

Early "Discovery"

• National Park Service - Early History of the California Coast

• Wikipedia - Exploration of North America  

• Britannica -  California History 

• Wikipedia - History of California 

• Reference Desk - California History

Spanish

• Library of Congress - Spanish California

• Wikipedia - Origins of the Name California 

Missions in Alta California  

• California Missions Foundation

• Wikipedia - Spanish Missions in California 

Mexician Alta California 

• Library of Congress - Mexican California 

• Wikipedia - Alta California 

Why "GO WEST?"  - Economics, Religion, Disease, Manifest Destiny, Adventure....

• Crossing the River in a Covered Wagon Virtual Reality video clip (3 mins, youtube)

• BOOK: The Overland Emigrant Trail in California (13.6MB pdf)

• History.com - Westward Expansion 

• History.com - Manifest Destiny 

Bartleson–Bidwell Company - 1841

• Wikipedia - Bartleson-Bidwell Party 

• California Trail Interpretative Center - Bidwell-Bartleson 

• History to Go - Bartleson-Bidwell Party

• Johnson's Ranch and Historic Map probably drawn by John Bidwell

Stephens–Townsend–Murphy Company - 1844

• Truckee-Donner Historical Society 

• Wikipedia - Stephens-Townsend-Murphy 

• California Trail Interpretative Center - Stephens Townsend Murphy 

• The Search for Elisha Stephens 

• Wiki Tree - Elisha B. Stephens 

Donner Party - 1846 

• Wikipedia - Donner Party 

• History.com - 10 Things You Should Know About the Donner Party Know

• History.com - Donner Party  

• Forlorn Hope

  • Forlorn Hope Expedition  

    • Forlorn Hope Expedition "How to use Timeline Tutorial"

    • Forlorn Hope Expedition - Timeline of Original Forlorn Hope Party (1846-47)

  • Tahoetopia - Donner Party Tracker: Forlorn Hope 

• Map of Western Terminus of Donner Party - Johnson's Ranch (1MB)

• Overland Journal - Donner Forensic Study 2015

• Donner Member Photos

  • Picture - James and Margaret Reed 

  • Picture - Charles Stanton 

  • Picture - William Eddy 

  • Bio - William Eddy

  • More William Eddy

  • Patrick Breen

  • Picture - Cut Tree Stumps 

Mexican-American War - 1846 

• Bear Flag Revolt - 1846

  • Wikipedia - California Republic 

• Mexican–American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe

  • Britannica.com - Mexican American War 

• Wikipedia - Mormon Battalion

Central Pacific Railroad

The Big Four 

Chinese Labor

• Professor Sue Fawn Chung's PowerPoint Presentation for Sierra Speaker Series - October 2023

• Railroad Chinese - Double Happiness Painting Program by Scott Green (Sierra District Archaeologist) - link to materials

• Chinese Emigration to California for the Gold Rush and Transcontinental Railroad - California Railroad Museum PORTS Home Learning Program (2021)

• The Chinese Heroes of the Transcontinental Railroad - Jerry Blackwill (2020)

• Geography of Chinese Workers Building The Transcontinental Railroad - Stanford Article (2018)

• ARTICLE: These railroad tunnels in Tahoe are one of the most endangered historic sites in America - SF Gate (2021)

• ARTICLE: China Wall: Truckee's memorial to the Chinese laborers who transformed America (2021)

• Chinese in Truckee 2024 PowerPoint Presentation - Sue Fawn Chung

Early Wagon Roads

• Donner Summit Historical Society - Dutch Flat/Donner Lake Wagon Road 

• Sierra Sun - Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road 

• Wikipedia - California Trail

Lincoln Highway

• Wikipedia - Lincoln Highway 

Highway 40

• Wikipedia - US Route 40 

Interstate 80

• Interstate guide.com - I-80 History 

• Sierra College Press - I-80 Pictures 

Donner Party Winter Camp Sites (1846-47):  

• Wikipedia - Truckee Lake and Alder Creek sites 

Great Basin/Humboldt Sink

• Humboldt Sink

PIONEER ROUTES:  

• Donner Party - Hastings Cutoff 

• Donner Summit Historical Society - Emigrant Trail Truckee River Route 

• California/Oregon Trail