A Historic Transportation Route

As I mentioned in the last installment of this blog, there was a very early transportation corridor the lead west out of the Eagle Valley, where Carson City is located, and connected the area with California. It was originally a Washo Indian trail over the mountains. Beginning in the mid 1850s, prospectors began using the trai in ever increasing numbers in their quest for a new gold or silver find. When the Comstock Lode mining frenzy began in 1859, people came over the trail in droves to try their hand at the newfound gold and silver deposits in western Nevada.
Shortly after Nevada became a territory in 1861, the legislature authorized Alfred Helms and Butler Ives to make improvements to the well-worn footpath to handle the increasing transportation demands. They responded by building a road, called Kings Canyon Road and after the road was finished, in 1863, they began charging tolls for the use of the road. The tolls were removed in 1878 when another road farther south was constructed, but Kings Canyon Road remained the pathway of choice to most travelers in spite of the presence of another road nearby.
There was very little maintenance or improvements made to the road, despite its heavy use, until 1913, with the advent of the automobile. When one of America's first highways, the Lincoln Highway, was being planned, it was decided that Kings Canyon Road would be utilized as part of the highway's route. Immediately, improvements were made to make the rough road conducive to automobile traffic. When it was officially declared a federal highway, the Carson good Roads Association began placing markers on the road to guide travelers.
Traffic nearly stopped completely on this road in 1928 when U.S. Highway 50 was built through Clear Creek Canyon a few miles south. Highway 50 and Kings Canyon Road diverged at the apex of Spooner Summit, elevation 7,146 feet. This is about 2,500 feet above the floor of the Eagle Valley. Since then, U.S. Highway 50 has been re-routed and is now a modern, 4-lane, divided highway that carries alot of traffic.