VIsiting some sites near Wells, Nevada

On Friday, we decided to try to see a couple of the sites that were near Wells (the closest "town" to where we are staying). 

When we were at the California Trails Interpretive Center (CTIC) on Thursday (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2022/05/thursday-to-elko-and-california-trails.html), the fellow there had told us about the app he wrote and that we could use it to try to visit a couple of places where we might be able to see wagon wheel ruts.

We used the app to get directions:

It also provided text about what we would see there:

 

We found the "T" post...

"California Trail - Humboldt Wells Route"

"We had to descend a bad hill to get down to the creek, where we nooned near some well springs." -- Byron McKinstry, Aug 10, 1850

View of the 4x4 trail that, I guess, follows the same path as the emigrant trail.

Pretty wildflowers blooming near the trail

California trail marker on the other side of the road

We were following the app directions, heading on to the next location...

...we passed the VOR station for aircraft navigation at the top of the hill...

 ... but we noticed that the directions took us on Metropolis Road. Our friend, Steve, had told us about this odd townsite of Metropolis, that had been built in the first half of the 1900s, but had not figured out that they had no water rights and thus the town met its demise. We decided to detour away from California Trail sites from the mid 1800s to Metropolis:

Plaque at Metropolis

I looked up information about the inscription at the bottom to try to understand the date "June 8, 6018 (2013)" -- you might understand the information better than I have: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Clampus_Vitus

Some sort of "memorial" at the ruins.

"Remember Metropolis

In memory of those valiant pioneers who settled and built a city here, giving so much to us all in their pursuit of happiness and security. Today we enjoy the fruits of their efforts.

The first settlers came in 1910, followed by many others until 1935. Many who lived here aspired to become teachers, lawyers, civic leaders, church leaders, and best of all reared great families in homes where love and happiness filled their lives. May we always remember our Metropolis heritage and beginnings, and may our lives be fuller because of the Metropolis pioneers. May we also forever resolve within our hearts and minds to cherish the memories of the pioneers of Metropolis. Blessed be the name of Metropolis, Nevada throughout the eternities."

 

We think this was the ruins of the school (or maybe hotel).

After our detour to Metropolis, we continued on to the next (and last) stop of the trails tour. We drove part of the way down the rutted dirt road until we decided that we had better walk the rest of the way...

We found the trails marker...

... and what may have been wagon wheel ruts (though I think they may be 4x4 trails now) - and a nice view of the mountain beyond.

We also found some mattresses tossed out beside the trail -- do you think these are left over from the emigrants who were lightening their load as they passed through this area?

We enjoyed our day visiting emigrant trails and a ghost town...

Back at the rig, Carl made stir-fry for dinner:

Yum!

We have enjoyed our time near Wells, Nevada, visiting our friends at Welcome Station RV Park. Our plan is to leave on Tuesday (after Memorial Day) and start heading toward Oregon and Washington where we plan to spend much of the summer.

Friday repairs

I mentioned a few posts ago (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2022/05/electric-bay-project.html) that the electric bay project was "finished", but that one leg of power into the RV was not working. Carl knew that it was associated with the "pigtail", as, after he took all other components out of the equation, the problem persisted. 

When Carl was working on the project on Wednesday, he noticed that some of the connections were not as clean as he would wish (there was a tiny bit of copper wire showing...). He has told me that his standard of excellence is by whether it would pass inspection by "Aunt Zola", and he did not think this would pass her eagle eye (as if she would ever see it!). He also said that he did not want a future owner or maintenance person to see it and think, "This was done by an amateur." Anyway, he decided to clean up the connections as he was finishing the task, and while doing that, it was getting late in the day and he mistakenly connected two wires reversed...

Can you see the two (or four) wires opposite each other that don't match up in color? Yep, the bottom white and black wires (coming from the pigtail) needed to be reversed. Thankfully, it was an easy correction to make, well...

... easy after removing everything out of the electric bay! (Carl took the cord off the cord reel before removing it this time -- made it a lot lighter!)

Everything back in, and it all works!

We can even use a bluetooth connection from inside the coach to determine how many amps we're drawing via the "Power Watchdog". This is particularly handy when we're on 30A hookups to know whether we can start another appliance or whether we need to cut something else off before we start the next appliance.

The last project that Carl did on the bays on the driver side was to put in some additional insulation on the door of the battery compartment.

The lithium batteries are sensitive to cold, specifically, we should not charge them if the temperature of the batteries is less than freezing. In general, we avoid being in freezing weather, and we have the charge controller configures so that charging from the solar panels will stop charging the batteries if the temperature is below 35F. We can manually stop charging of the batteries if we are running the generator or on shore power and the temperature is below 32F. But, we'd like to just make sure that the batteries don't go below freezing, and insulating the compartment is one way to help with that. Originally, the compartment was not weather-tight; in fact, for lead-acid batteries, it had to be open to the outside air to allow for off-gassing of that type of battery. Carl has added insulation to most of the open places in the compartment, and insulating around the door was the last place he wanted to improve. After this last improvement to the battery bay he checked, and on Sunday morning, the outside temperature got down to 39F, and the batteries did not get lower than 48F.

We're glad to have this project completed, and glad to get the extra pieces of styrofoam out of the Jeep!

Thursday to Elko and the California Trails Interpretive Center

When we drove across I-80 from California almost two weeks ago, we noticed the California Trails Interpretive Center just west of Elko. We had thought we would like to visit, and Thursday ended up being the day we made it there. It was very interesting and well done...

It opened in 2008, a partnership between private and public funding sources.

Inside the lobby there was a map with different routes identified -- California Trail, Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail. Note that there was not a "single" trail of any of the types; different travelers took different routes. Sometimes a guide or advisor would have their own personal reasons for directing later parties along some particular route (e.g. to give business to a town or fort that they had an interest in).

Carl at a representation of one of the wagons -- they were quite small -- much less storage than Gracie!

I'll include text from some of the exhibits throughout the center.

The tour started at the jumping off towns along the Missouri River:

A Trickle, then a Flood

The Rush is On!

The whole nation was in motion, and nowhere could you feel the momentum to the west more strongly than the jumping-off towns along the Missouri River. Imagine trying to take care of the hundred last minute details, console homesick loved ones, and keep track of your children in a town swollen with thousands of others just like you.

 "As far as the eye can reach, so great is the emigration, you see nothing but wagons. This town presents a striking appearance -- a vast army on wheels -- crowds of men, women and lots of children and last but not least the cattle and horses upon which our lives depend." -- Sallie Hester, 16 years old, St Joseph, MO, April 27th, 1849

Note: there were a lot of quotes from travelers at each of the information boards. Carl said that they were texts that the travelers sent to their families back home... or maybe Facebook posts... I'm pretty sure he was kidding...

"A Pennsylvania style emigrant wagon"

"Design for a Small Emigrant Wagon, Richard M Davis."

"Our wagon has square bows, which makes it much more roomy than the rounded bows. Inside the cover on each side are pockets in which odds and ends may be stowed away. There is an 'upper deck,' or double floor, the supplies being packed between floors and the bed on the upper one." -- Helen Carpenter, 1857

How will everything fit? (There were a lot of commonalities between what the emigrants went through and what new fulltime RVers go through!)

Wagon Living

America's First Mobile Homes

For four to six months, the wagon was home. If compared to a modern truck in capacity and function, the overland outfit is like loading camping equipment, food, and clothes into the bed of a pickup for an extended trip. 

To save space and reduce weight, many wagons had built-in compartments and cupboards. Some emigrants devised items to do double duty, such as a provision box that could be turned into a table. While many people walked the entire way, some wagons had seats in the box so that family members could ride.

"Wagon brought across the plains from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Yolo County, California, by John Bemmerly in 1849."

"'Pioneer Palace Car' in Virginia Reed's 1891 memoir Across the Plains in the Donner Party, originally published in The Century magazine, July 1891. Illustrations by Frederick Remington."

What to Take

Top image: 1842 Springfield musket. Most emigrants took along firearms for hunting and protection. Emigrant guns included nearly every type of civilian and military firearm, including rifles, smoothbore muskets, shotguns, pistols, and revolvers.

Left image: A wagon jack was an indispensable item of equipment.

Right image: Every wagon had a tar bucket hanging from the rear axle. The "tar" was a mixture of tar and grease or other lubricant. It was essential for greasing the axles, but it was also used to paint inscriptions on rocks and as a remedy for chapped skin.

"In the way of supplies there was flour, sugar, bacon and ham, tea, coffee, crackers, dried herring, a small quantity of corn starch, dried apples that we brought from Indiana, one bottle of pickles, cream of tartar and soda and that about made up the outfit." -- Helen Carpenter, 1857

"When you leave each home with nothing but a wagon full of hope and new baby after each move everything finally gets lost or broken -- even your dreams sometimes."  -- Elizabeth Duncan, Skagit Schoolma'am

When I read this quote about "a wagon full of hope", I was reminded of the song, "Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears" by the Irish Tenors (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxAE0tTHj_E).

"It was a strange but comprehensive load which we stowed away in our 'prairie schooner' and some things which I thought necessities when we started became burdensome luxuries, and before many days I dropped by the road-side a good many unnecessary pots and kettles, for on bacon and flour one can bring but few changes, and it requires but few vessels to cook them." -- Luzena Stanley Wilson, 1849

 

You may be able to see a small rag of red bandana tied to a spoke at about 7 o'clock on the wagon wheel. The information sign indicated that the directions that the emigrants were following would usually have text such as, "10 miles to the west..." -- sometimes there were devices that measured distance, but sometimes distance was measured by a person watching the marker on the wheel and counting its revolutions...

A Day on the Trails

Before daybreak, women prepared breakfast, while men collected straying or lost animals. After a morning drive of several miles, a midday stop known as "nooning" allowed travelers to eat and rest before continuing to the evening camp. Fifteen miles a day was average, but actual number of miles traveled depended on terrain, draft animals, and weather.

Travel Challenges

Crossing streams created special challenges. On wide rivers, wagons floated across after wheels were removed. On other rivers, people, wagons, and goods ferried across on crude skiffs or rafts, while the livestock swam over. The specter of being swept away by the current or losing property to water damage haunted each crossing.

"We enjoy ourselves better as we get used to this way of traveling & living out of doors." -- Mary Stuart Bailey, 1852

"Drivers walked alongside oxen with a whip or goad to keep the animals moving. Outriders on horses often led the train or scouted ahead."

"Horse and mule teams crossed while still hitched to the wagons, but oxen left in their yokes could easily choke and drown."

"Company excessively tired from walking. I drive half the time & walk the other half. My feet are sore & much blistered." -- Daniel H. Budd, 1852

Women and Children

One out of five women experienced some stage of pregnancy during her journey. Though the family might camp for a day or more when a woman began labor, traveling often resumed within hours of the birth. Many baby names reflected the place they were born -- La Bonte, Platte, Columbia, or Nevada. A boy born in 1853 at City of Rocks was named Pyramid Alonzo.

Young boys and girls milked cows, fetched water, helped with younger siblings, gathered fuel, and washed dishes. In rough areas, children walked ahead of the wagons and threw stones out of the way, cleared brush, and put tree limbs over muddy spots to keep the wheels from sinking in.

"Whether they found the overland trip challenging or pleasant, most children remembered it as one of the most interesting times of their lives."

One of the things that was particularly interesting (but of which I took *no* pictures) were personal accounts from someone representing each of two parties crossing the plains at each point on the trip. One was, I think, the Bidwell-Bartleson Party, and the other was the Donner/Reed Party (known because they resorted to cannibalism of their deceased colleagues). Since we had recently crossed Donner Pass as we were leaving California, reading first hand accounts from members of this group were particularly interesting.

"Of all the roads I ever read of this is the worst a man could not believe that horses & wagons could ascent at all it is so steep that we have to take hold of rocks to climb up." -- Andrew Jackson Griffith, 1850

"Imagine heading into these rugged mountains after months on the trail."

 "The summit is crossed! We are in California! Far away in the haze the dim outlines of the Sacramento Valley are discernible! We are on the down grade now and our famished animals may pull us through."  -- Niles Searls, 1849

"Travelers gathered all their physical and emotional strength for the final push over the Sierra Nevada."

 

There was a video about the horrible winter that befell the Donner/Reed Party. 

As we prepared to leave the exhibit building, we stopped to ask one of the docents if there were any wagon wheel ruts visible in the outside area. He let us know that the road bed of I-80 pretty much followed the trail and thus obliterated the wheel ruts in this area. We asked about the area near Wells, and he let us know that, during the time that the center was closed in the past two years, he took it upon himself to write an app that would guide people along, either to find sites themselves, or to read about them using the app. We downloaded the app, and have found it to be quite useful! If you have a smartphone, look up CTIC in the App Store or on Google Play, or, if you prefer using the web on the computer, use this link: https://ctic.oncell.com

You can experience a complete virtual tour, get more information about the exhibits, explore California Trail sites that are located away from the Interpretive Center, access original source documents, explore the Trail through emigrant diaries, access video and audio content, and more!

To wrap up our tour, some of the outdoor exhibits:

The docent told us that, coming up in June, there would be a re-enactment of the pioneer journey here at the Interpretive Center: https://www.californiatrailcenter.org/events/california-trail-days-2022/

We enjoyed our visit to the California Trail Interpretive Center. We spent about 2 hours visiting, and could easily return and learn more!

Some concern Wednesday evening

On Wednesday evening, we were finishing up supper when we heard a siren and then saw an ambulance enter the RV park grounds. It stopped on the other side of the park from our site, and, being curious, we headed out to see what was going on... We didn't go to where the ambulance was, but up to the fire pit area where friends were sitting.

It seemed that one of the ladies had collapsed and the folks with the lady contacted 9-1-1 and then let Steve know that an emergency vehicle was on its way.

The workers on the ambulance were concerned about readings that they got on the lady and asked the Sheriff's Department (who had arrived after the ambulance) to call for a helicopter transport. Our friends Jan and Steve went a little east of the campground on the frontage road and the sheriff's department vehicle a little west to stop traffic on the frontage road and provide a place for the helicopter to land.

Ambulance in the campground

Helicopter arriving

Safely on the ground

Emergency workers coming from the helicopter

Sheriff's department fellow and helicopter

Once the lady was awake, she refused transport, so the helicopter left:

The ambulance stayed a little longer, but it eventually left without transporting the lady too.

Evidently, the lady had not hydrated during the day on Wednesday, and after they got parked, she went outside and started to take a drink from her cup, and collapsed. The ambulance workers were concerned that she may have had a heart attack, but I guess she felt confident she was merely dehydrated. As far as we know, she did alright through the night and they left early on Thursday morning.