40 Mile Desert

The 40 Mile Desert was a long, desolate stretch of the Carson Trail north of Fallon. At the large natural dike separating the Humboldt Sink from the Carson Sink, the California Emigrant Trail forked into two different routes. The earlier Truckee Route (1844) followed a path towards the Truckee River near modern day Wadsworth, while the later Carson Route (1848) turned to the south, crossing the infamous desert before arriving at Ragtown and the Carson River. Water was scarce, and that which could be found was unusable (see Humboldt Double Wells and Salt Creek Crossing below, as well as Soda Lake). Usage of the Carson Trail grew after 1849, when it became the primary route to California. An 1850 survey of the dreaded desert crossing gave this grim statistic: 1,061 mules, 5,000 horses, 3,750 cattle, and 953 emigrant graves were strewn across the forty mile stretch. After 1859, with the inception of the Central Overland Route, emigrant traffic across the 40 Mile Desert declined, and all but ended with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad a decade later.

The map below shows the Carson Route and landmarks across the 40 Mile Desert. Nearly a dozen markers placed by Emigrant Trails West, Inc.🔗 are also shown.

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