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The emigrants had reached the end of the
dreaded Humboldt River and their goal seemed within
reach -- but now, they faced an equally daunting
challenge: the Forty Mile Desert. No matter which route
they chose -- the Truckee River Route or the Carson
River Route -- they confronted a harsh landscape without
water.
For those following the Truckee River
route, the desert extended from the Humboldt Sink to the
Truckee River, located near present-day Wadsworth,
Nevada. About half-way across the desert, the emigrants
came to a hot spring, but its water, in most cases, was
too bad for consumption. (Some emigrants made coffee
with the water and were able to get their animals to
drink the coffee, whereas they would not drink the water
itself.) |
On the Carson River Route, the 40 Mile
Desert extended from the Humboldt Sink to the Carson
River, at Ragtown, on the western edge of the present
city of Fallon, Nevada. The only water along this
route was at Soda Lake, the cone of a small, extinct
volcano located near (but not on) the trail. Soda
Lake, however, was so near the Carson River that it
was of no real significance for the emigrants. |
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Both Forty Mile Deserts were hot,
waterless stretches across sage plains, alkali flats,
and loose sand that exhausted the animals, wagons, and
humans who were already worn out and weakened after
months of long, arduous travel. The choice was forty
miles to the Carson River or forty miles to the Truckee.
But, no matter what, the emigrants faced forty long
difficult miles. |
J. S.
Shepherd (undated):
Our water being gone, we threw away our
casks, tents, buffalo robes, and many other things, to
lighten our load; we toiled on through the sand and
heat, until we got within five miles of Pilot [Carson]
river; here we understood there was a spring of good
water, by the side of a small lake of salt water, on the
top of a hill....so we took our horses out of the
harness and led them to the spring, which we easily
found. On getting to the top of the hill, a small lake
ushers itself into view, five or six hundred feet below
you. A rather steep descent took us to the bottom, down
which we succeeded in getting our horses; here,
immediately at the bottom is one of the most beautiful
springs I have ever seen, of most excellent water. Oh!
how sweet and delicious is a draught of good cold water
when you are suffering with burning thirst. |
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In crossing the Forty Mile Desert in
1849, Sarah Royce passed abandoned wagons, dead animals,
and other refuse discarded as people put survival ahead
of possessions. Except for a "few pounds of
bacon," she found only one thing worth salvaging:
"That was a little book, bound in cloth and
illustrated with a number of small engravings. Its title
was 'Little Ella.' ...I put it in my pocket. It was an
easily carried souvenir of the desert; and more than one
pair of young eyes learned to read its pages in after
years." |
Eleazar
Stillman Ingalls, August 5, 1850: Imagine to yourself a vast plain of sand and
clay; ...the stinted sage, the salt lakes, cheating the
thirsty traveler into the belief that water is near; yes,
water it is, but poison to the living thing that stops to
drink.... Burning wagons render still more hideous the solemn
march; dead horses line the road, and living ones may be
constantly seen, lapping and rolling the empty water casks
(which have been cast away) for a drop of water to quench
their burning thirst, or standing with drooping heads, waiting
for death to relieve them of their tortures, or lying on the
sand half buried, unable to rise, yet still trying. The sand
hills are reached; then comes a scene of confusion and dismay.
Animal after animal drops down. Wagon after wagon is stopped,
the strongest animals are taken out of the harness; the most
important effects are taken out of the wagon and placed on
their backs and all hurry away, leaving behind wagons,
property and animals that, too weak to travel, lie and broil
in the sun.... The owners hurry on with but one object in
view, that of reaching the Carson River before the boiling sun
shall reduce them to the same condition.... The desert! You
must see it and feel it in an August day, when legions have
crossed it before you, to realize it in all its horrors. But
heaven save you from the experience. |
