Pilot Peak
Elko County, Elko County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Pilot Peak. The high, symmetrically shaped mountain seen rising to the north is Pilot Peak, named by John C. Fremont on his expedition of 1845. Previously, the Bartleson-Bidwell party camped here in 1841. These emigrants had traveled one day and night across the Great Salt Lake Desert to find their first water here.In the period 1845-1850, the peak was a famous landmark and symbol of hope and relief to the Reed-Donner Party and all other wagon train pioneers who traveled the 70-odd miles of deadly, thirst-and-heat-ridden steps across the Great Salt Lake Desert. This desert represented the worst section of the infamous Hastings Cutoff of the California Emigrant Trail.STATE HISTORIC
Erected by Northeastern Nevada Historical Society
The Story
The symmetrical mountain to the north is Pilot Peak, named by John C. Frémont during his 1845 expedition, though the Bartleson-Bidwell party had already found water at its base in 1841 after a punishing day and night crossing the Great Salt Lake Desert. For emigrants on the notorious Hastings Cutoff, its distant profile promised the springs that meant survival. The ill-fated Reed-Donner Party and countless others fixed their hopes on it while enduring the 70 waterless miles of that deadly shortcut. It stood as a landmark of relief in the worst stretch of the California Trail.
Why it matters
Pilot Peak embodies the razor-thin margins of overland travel, where a mountain on the horizon could mean the difference between rescue and disaster—most tragically for the Donner Party.
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Related people
- · John C. Frémont
Related events
- · Bartleson-Bidwell Party
- · Donner Party
- · Hastings Cutoff
Themes & tags
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