A new book,
The first emigrants to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Tuolumne County were the members of the Bidwell-Bartleson Party of 1841. They followed a convoluted route from the headwaters of the Walker River, across a remote mountain pass, down to the Clark Fork of the Stanislaus River, and eventually to the San Joaquin Valley. In 1852 the Clark-Skidmore Party, led by a group sent out from Columbia, established a new route through the mountains which would become known as the Walker River Trail. The following year more than two thousand emigrants used the new trail to the Southern Mines. By 1854, though, word of the difficulties along the trail had spread and only a trickle of emigrants chose the route. Soon afterward, the trail was abandoned.Sign Guestbook View GuestbookThe Tuolumne County pioneers listed at this site are individuals who settled or worked in the mountains east of Sonora between the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River and the North Fork of the Tuolumne River during the 19th century. This includes communities such as Soulsbyville, Tuolumne, Phoenix Lake, Twain Harte, Confidence, Sugar Pine, Mi-Wuk Village, Pinecrest, Strawberry, Dardanelle, and Kennedy Meadow.
Send queries about Sonora Pass emigrants or Tuolumne County pioneers to David Johnson at
david@sonorapasspioneers.com
Last updated July 2009.
