Carlin Canyon
Elko County, Elko County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Carlin Canyon. In December 1828, Peter Skene Ogden and his trapping brigade (Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fifth Snake Country Expedition) were the first European Americans to enter here. Joseph Paul, one of Ogden’s trappers, died nearby—the first emigrant to die and be buried in the Humboldt Country.Late in 1845, John Frémont dispatched a group down the Humboldt. They traversed this canyon with difficulty on November 10. In September 1846, the Reed-Donner Party, en route to disaster in the deep snows of the Sierra Nevada, viewed the canyon.The Central Pacific’s Chinese track gangs constructed the transcontinental railroad (now Southern Pacific) through here in December 1868. Subsequently, the canyon became known as Carlin or Moleen Canyon. The Western Pacific, the second transcontinental rail link across Nevada, was constructed in 1907.In 1913, Nevada Route 1, the first auto road, took over the abandoned Central Pacific grade through the canyon. In 1920, Route 1 became the Victory Highway, and in 1926, U.S. Highway 40. In its freeway phase, it is now designated Interstate 80.
Erected by Nevada State Historic Preservation Office
The Story
Carlin Canyon opened to European Americans in December 1828 when Peter Skene Ogden's Hudson's Bay Company brigade passed through; one of his trappers, Joseph Paul, died and became the first emigrant buried in the Humboldt country. Frémont's men struggled through in 1845, and the doomed Reed-Donner Party glimpsed it in 1846. The Central Pacific's Chinese crews pushed the transcontinental railroad through in 1868, and later the Western Pacific followed in 1907. In 1913 the first auto road took over the old rail grade—becoming the Victory Highway, U.S. 40, and at last Interstate 80.
Why it matters
Few narrow canyons carry so complete a record of American movement west—fur trappers, emigrants, two railroads, and successive highways all funneled through the same gap.
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Related people
- · Peter Skene Ogden
- · John Frémont
- · Joseph Paul
Related events
- · Donner Party
- · Transcontinental Railroad
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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