Railroad Consultant

The biggest news of the 1850s was of course the railroad.  The technology existed for laying a railroad, but there was little information about where it could be easily and economically built.
Joe Walker, being one of the last and most respected trappers and traders who knew the West country beyond familiar trails, found himself in great demand as a geographical consultant.

In late 1853, a group of politicians invited Walker to speak about rail routes in Sacramento.  Walker's four page report offered two routes he thought reliable for rail due to grades, water and wood supplies.

Both of Walker's routes left California through Walker's Pass,  one across the 25th parallel across Arizona and New Mexico to Santa Fe and from there across the plains.  The second ran from Walker's Pass north along the eastern Sierra to Humboldt Sink to Salt Lake along well traveled wagon trails.

None of the rails were ever laid through Walker Pass.  Both of the trails blazed in the first half of 19th century lie beneath beds of slate and national highways.

Next Time...One Man Out of Many

-----------------------------------------

This Day in History: On December 18. 1888,  Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law stumble upon the magnificent ancient Indians ruins of Mesa Verde while searching for stray cattle in the isolated canyons of southwest Colorado.

We'll Find a Better Way

Joe Walker intended to find a new and better way through the Sierras.  At this point six of his men decided to remain in California.   George Nidever was a talented cabinet maker and later moved to the coast and became a prosperous sea otter hunter.  Walker had no hard feelings for the men who stayed - the whole journey had been voluntary. 

In February 1834, the party of now 52 men left San Juan Bautisa with 315 horses, 47 head of cattle, 30 dogs and traveled parallel to the Sierras, looking for information on any pass through the mountains.  At what is now present day Bakersfield, they turned east up the Kern River and came to a Tubatulabel Indian Village where they learned of a pass and were offered guides to take them. 

Walker was the first white man to travel through Walker Pass - one mile above sea level but far enough south to be snow free in early winter.  In 10 years this would be an important gateway for the settlers. 

Next time...Searching the Sierras