Truckee River
Washoe County, Washoe County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Truckee River. The Truckee River, seen below, runs from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake. The river’s first recorded discovery was by Captain John C. Frémont in January 1844. He camped by its terminal at Pyramid, and then followed it to the big bend at Wadsworth. Captain Frémont named the stream the Salmon-Trout River. At the end of his 1845 sojourn in Nevada, he followed it into the Sierra and crossed Donner Pass.Beginning with the Stephens-Murphy-Townsend party in 1844, the Truckee River became a route for California emigrants until the advent of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1868-1869 brought the wagon train period to a close. After the Southern Pacific took over the railway in 1899 and relocated much of its Nevada alignment, the old Central Pacific roadbed between Sparks and Wadsworth was deeded to Washoe County in 1904 for road purposes. In 1917, the road became a portion of state road 1, which in 1920 became the Nevada section of the victory highway. In 1925, when federal highway names were replaced by a numerical system, the Victory Highway became U.S. highway 40. In 1958, after reconstruction, this route became the initial section of interstate 80 across Nevada. The river provides water for Reno, Sparks, the Fallon agricultural area and Pyramid Lake.
Erected by Nevada State Highway Department
The Story
The Truckee River, flowing from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake, was first recorded by John C. Frémont in January 1844, who camped at its terminus and dubbed it the Salmon-Trout River before following it over Donner Pass. From the Stephens-Murphy-Townsend party of 1844 onward it guided California emigrants until the Central Pacific Railroad closed the wagon era in 1868–1869. The old railroad grade later became a county road, then Nevada's Victory Highway, U.S. 40, and finally the first stretch of Interstate 80 across the state.
Why it matters
This river valley shows the unbroken thread of American movement west—from Frémont's explorations through emigrant wagons and rails to the modern interstate.
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Related people
- · John C. Frémont
Related events
- · Arrival of the Central Pacific Railroad, 1868–1869
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Junction House
Reno, NV
At this crossing of the Truckee Meadows, one of pioneer Nevada's busiest crossroads took shape. By 1853 Junction House had become the valley's first permanent settlement and a stopping place for thousands of emigrants. It anchored a web of toll roads in the 1860s — the turnpikes to Washoe City and Virginia City, the Myron Lake Road, and the important Henness Pass route to California. Governor John Sparks later owned the property.
Reno Arch
Reno, NV
The Reno Arch first spanned Virginia Street in 1926, built to celebrate the completion of the Lincoln and Victory Highways that funneled early automobile travelers through northern Nevada. Its famous slogan—"The Biggest Little City in the World"—was chosen in a 1929 contest, and the glowing arch quickly became the emblem of a town whose fortunes rode on liberal divorce laws, legalized gambling, and the tourists who came for both. Successive arches have risen over the same spot, but the boast has never changed.
Reno
Reno, NV
Long before Europeans arrived, the Washoe and Paiute lived in the Truckee Meadows; the Stevens-Murphy party passed through in 1844 and settlement began in the early 1850s. Charles Fuller launched a river ferry in 1859 and built a bridge and hotel, holdings soon acquired by Myron Lake, whose "Lake's Crossing" became the town's nucleus when the Central Pacific laid out a depot in 1868. Named for Civil War General Jesse Lee Reno, the town grew on railroads, lumber, and ranching — and later on its reputations for quick divorces, beginning in 1906, and legalized gambling in 1931.
Huffaker's
Reno, NV
When Granville W. Huffaker drove 500 head of cattle into the Truckee Meadows in 1858, the valley's main settlers were Mormons; he established his ranch the following year just as the Comstock Lode focused new attention on the region. Through the 1860s Huffaker's grew into a bustling stage stop and community center, with a stage line, post office, and an 1868 schoolhouse, hosting dances, horse races, and even a literary society. In 1875 the "Bonanza Kings" completed their great lumber flume from the Tahoe basin to a nearby terminus, where the Virginia and Truckee Railroad built a depot and spur to transfer the timber.