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# California Trail Heritage Alliance

Enhancing the California Trail Experience

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://ctha-nv.org/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [California Trail Days 2023](https://ctha-nv.org/california-trail-days-2023/) - dance-59 dance-59 pxl_20230603_180904336.mp_ pxl_20230603_180904336.mp_ gopr5581 gopr5581 pxl_20230603_181456653 pxl_20230603_181456653 pxl_20230604_005644861.mp2_ pxl_20230604_005644861.mp2_ pxl_20230603_180616167 pxl_20230603_180616167 td-6-4-10 td-6-4-10 dance-23 dance-23 td-6-4-26 td-6-4-26 td-6-4-9 td-6-4-9 td-6-4-48 td-6-4-48 td-6-4-20 td-6-4-20 Thank you to the California Trail Interpretive Center for hosting another successful Trail Days event. This year CTHA members enjoyed volunteering and participating in the reenactment weekend.
- [Quarterly Newsletters](https://ctha-nv.org/newsletters/) - CTHA has been publishing informative, interesting and educational newsletters since 2014. The most recent editions are here for your convenience. Older editions can be obtained upon request. Newer editions are available with the purchase of a membership in the California Trail Heritage Alliance. 2024 Newsletters Wagon Tongue Newsletter - Spring 2024 Wagon Tongue Newsletter -
- [Western Emigrant Trail Collection](https://ctha-nv.org/western-emigrant-trail-collection/) - The Western Emigrant Trail Collection (WETC) is located at Great Basin College. The collection contains many books and research materials related to the Emigrant Trails and the region. The WETC is a partnership between the Oregon-California Trails Association, the California Trail Heritage Alliance, the California Trail Center, and Great Basin College.
- [Marketing](https://ctha-nv.org/marketing/) - CTHA has increased visitation 150% since 2012 through aggressive multi-media marketing. The primary sources of our funding are Travel Nevada, the Elko Recreation Board, and the Elko Convention and Visitors Authority. Marketing the California Trail Interpretive Center is easy from the standpoint of having a world class facility with top-notch and varied programs and exhibits.
- [Educational Trunks](https://ctha-nv.org/educational-trunks/) - In a collaborative effort with the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA), funded by a Union Pacific Foundation grant, five educational trunks have been created for teachers around Northern Nevada to use in their classrooms. One trunk is located in the Reno/Carson area, one in Winnemucca, and three are available at the Trail Center in Elko, Nevada.
- [Elko Hot Hole](https://ctha-nv.org/elko-hot-hole/) - The Elko “Hot Hole” is a camp site mentioned in many of the emigrant journals and diaries. CTHA, through a matching grant from Travel Nevada has completed fencing the site with an attractive fence which allows visitors to see this thermal feature but provides a safety barrier for children and others. Interpretive signs talking about
- [Dale Porter](https://ctha-nv.org/dale-porter/) - Dale was born in Denver but moved to Elko where he attended high school in the ’40s. He served as a cryptographer during the Korean War. Dale attended both the University of Colorado and the University of Reno where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. Dale and his father established and operated Porter
- [Paul Sawyer](https://ctha-nv.org/paul-sawyer/) - Born in Winnemucca in 1917, Paul Sawyer moved to Elko as a young child His career was spent in the auto sales and leasing business. After retiring, Paul worked for several years with the Humboldt Highroad and the Bureau of Land Management to mark the California Trail and the Hastings Cutoff and other trails in
- [The Western Emigrant Trail Collection](https://ctha-nv.org/the-western-emigrant-trail-collection/) - For some years, books, diaries, professional journals, and other information about the California Trail, Hastings Cutoff and related topics have been donated to or purchased for the California Trail Interpretive Center. Due to space and staffing constraints these materials have not been available to the public. With the facilitation efforts of CTHA in partnership with
- [Mapping the Hasting Cutoff](https://ctha-nv.org/mapping-the-hasting-cutoff/) - The Hastings Cutoff crosses almost 90 miles of northeastern Nevada. Entering Nevada near Wendover, it roughly parallels Interstate 80 until it rejoins the California Trail west of Elko NV. While the corridor of the Cutoff has been identified, the trail itself has not been formally mapped in this region. The CTHA has undertaken a long
- [Bicycle Path](https://ctha-nv.org/bicycle-path/) - CTHA has submitted a letter to the NV Department of transportation encouraging them to move forward with the bicycle path between Elko and the California Trail Interpretive Center.
- [MET Mapping in Ruby Valley](https://ctha-nv.org/met-mapping-in-ruby-valley/) - The FWS is reviewing the draft MET Mapping report from the 2018 field season. Plans are in development for the 2019 field work.
- [Bicycle Path from Elko to the California Trail Interpretive Center](https://ctha-nv.org/bicycle-path-from-elko-to-the-california-trail-interpretive-center/) - CTHA is working with the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) on a long-term project to develop a bicycle path between Elko and the California Trail Interpretive Center along the route of the Humboldt River and the historic California Trail. The 8 mile bike is proposed to be constructed within the NDOT right-of-way for Interstate 80.
- [Nancy Kelsey](https://ctha-nv.org/nancy-kelsey/) - Nancy Kelsey, who traveled with her husband Ben and the Bidwell Bartleson Party to California in 1841. She reached California in November of that year with a toddler in tow, have walked or ridden horseback over 2,000 miles in a six month journey. She is the first white woman known to have completed the overland
- [John Bidwell](https://ctha-nv.org/john-bidwell/) - John Bidwell was the younger of two men who led the Bidwell-Bartleson party to California in 1841. (The other was John Bartleson.) Having pushed hard to reach what became northeastern Nevada, the party abandoned their wagons near Big Springs, NV and pushed on to California using pack animals. Their group was the first to attempt
- [Captain Elijah Stephens](https://ctha-nv.org/captain-elijah-stephens/) - Elijah Stephens was a mountain man and a trapper who had spent a lot of time in the Pacific Northwest. He captained the first wagon train to get wagons over the Sierra Nevada in 1844.
- [Captain Joseph Walker](https://ctha-nv.org/captain-joseph-walker/) - Joseph Walker was a mountain man and explorer. In 1843 and 1848 he pioneered the segment of the California Trail, the primary route for the emigrants to the gold fields during the California gold rush, from Fort Hall, Idaho to the Humboldt River and in 1848 the 40 Mile Desert Cutoff to the Carson River.
- [The California Trail Experience Endowment Fund](https://ctha-nv.org/the-california-trail-experience-endowment-fund/) - CTHA has established the California Trail Experience Endowment Fund. This fund is managed by the Western Nevada Community Foundation. The fund is available for trail protection and preservation efforts, other CTHA projects related to our mission and to support specific projects at the California Trail Interpretive Center. Please contact us if you would like more
- [Translation](https://ctha-nv.org/translation/) - CITC guides are available in Spanish and stories are available in Mandarin. With an awareness that just under 30% of the local population and many of the visitors are Hispanic, CTHA supported the development of a Spanish-language guide to the California Trail Interpretive Center. Trail stories have been translated into Mandarin. These efforts were possible through

## Pages

- [Home](https://ctha-nv.org/) - The California Trail Heritage Alliance, founded in 1995, is dedicated to the protection and preservation of the California Trail, the Hastings Cutoff and other trails in northern Nevada.
- [Contact](https://ctha-nv.org/contact-us/) - Get In Touch With Us Mailing Address California Trail Heritage Alliance Center P.O. Box 1778 Elko, NV 89803 (775) 340-2031 Facebook This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Name* Email* Phone Message* Submit
- [Bike Path](https://ctha-nv.org/bikepath/) - CTHA has long had a goal of establishing a developed trail from Elko to the California Trail Center, along I-80. A 2018 Elko Daily Free Press article aaaashows the significant progress made at that time. Since then, progress has stalled and in the Spring of 2023, CTHA joined efforts with the Elko Trail System Initiative
- [Why Join the CTHA?](https://ctha-nv.org/join-ctha/) - Help preserve our western trails heritage. Make a difference in your community. Learn more about our local trails and their stories. Preserve a legacy for our community and our children. Your support can make a difference. Volunteer Perks of Being a Member Learn about the California Trail and those who traveled it Help on
- [Partners](https://ctha-nv.org/members/) - Partners & Friends To paraphrase Aristotle, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Much of the success of the California Trail Heritage Alliance is due to our ability to work effectively with partners and other friends of the trail. Some of these are listed below with their websites. California Trail Interpretive Center
- [About Us](https://ctha-nv.org/about-us/) - About The California Trail Heritage Alliance California Trail Heritage Alliance (CTHA) is The National Historic California Emigrant Trails Center Foundation. Formerly, CTHA did business under its legal name, The National Historic California Emigrant Trails Center Foundation. The CTHA (EIN#: 27-4488823 a non-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization) is based in Elko, NV. Our members are dedicated
- [Thank You For Joining](https://ctha-nv.org/thank-you-for-joining/) - Thank for your interest in joining the California Trail Heritage Alliance (CTHA). To complete your membership request, please use the donate button below to pay for your membership. General Memberships In CTHA Individual Membership – $25 Family – $50 Supporter – $75 Partner – $100 Lifetime – $250 Those who join as a lifetime member
- [Educational Resources](https://ctha-nv.org/educational-resources/) - Educational Trunks In a collaborative effort with the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA), funded by a Union Pacific Foundation grant, three educational trunks have been created for use at the California Trail Interpretive Center near Elko NV. The trunks contain clothing, cooking utensils, toys, and other artifacts from the mid-nineteenth century. Accompanied by lesson plans, the
- [Donate](https://ctha-nv.org/donate/) - Donations made to the Alliance go to benefit specific programs and projects of the California Trail Heritage Alliance. The Donation Levels are: Pioneer ($250) Trail Blazer ($500) Wagon Master ($2,500) Empire Builder ($5,000+) With donations greater than $250.00, donor may elect to be named on the Donation wall at the Trail Center. Use the “Donate”
- [Save The Trail](https://ctha-nv.org/save-the-trail/) - “An American legacy is at risk. The historic trails trod by half a million pioneers, gold rushers, adventurers, families—people in pursuit of a better life in the West—are under constant threat from development, including energy-related projects. Many miles of wagon ruts and swales still exist in silent testimony to those hardy souls who built the
- [Discover](https://ctha-nv.org/discover/) - Discover what the California Trail Heritage Alliance (CTHA) is doing! CTHA believes in doing projects today that are of value now and in the future. Our mission is to enhance the California Trail experience for the community, visiting public and future generations. This means that we are interested and involved in a number of projects.
- [Volunteer](https://ctha-nv.org/volunteer/) - The California Trail Heritage Alliance is a volunteer organization of people with a variety of skills and interests. Bottom line – we love history and we like to get things done! If you are interested in Volunteering with the California Trail Heritage Alliance, please fill out the Volunteer Signup form on this page. Volunteer Signup
- [Gallery](https://ctha-nv.org/gallery/) - More Photos from Recent Experiences Reenactments on the Trail Educational Resources MET Mapping and Artifacts
- [Blog](https://ctha-nv.org/blog/) - California Trail Days 2023 Thank you to the California Trail Interpretive Center for hosting another successful Trail Days event. This year CTHA members enjoyed volunteering and participating in [...] Read More Quarterly Newsletters CTHA has been publishing informative, interesting and educational newsletters since 2014. The most recent editions are here for your

## Categories

- [Discover](https://ctha-nv.org/category/discover/)
- [People & Stories](https://ctha-nv.org/category/people-stories/)
- [News & Events](https://ctha-nv.org/category/news-events/)
- [Founders of the California Trail Interpretive Center](https://ctha-nv.org/category/people-stories/founders-of-the-california-trail-interpretive-center/)
- [Emigrant Stories](https://ctha-nv.org/category/people-stories/emigrant-stories/)