‘Over The Hill’. A Stratified Approach To The Archaeology Of The Donner Pass Route Through The Sierra Nevada.

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Roads, Rivers, Rails and Trails (and more): The Archaeology of Linear Historic Properties" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The Donner Pass Route through the Sierra Nevada has successively featured emigrant trails, a military survey route, a wagon road, the transcontinental railroad, the transcontinental telegraph, hydroelectric power stations and lumber mills connected to long distance box flumes, the transcontinental telephone line, the Lincoln Highway, the Victory Highway, US-40, the transcontinental airway and I-80. A series of settlements were established along the route, and its presence also profoundly affected the nature of the settlement patterns on either side of the mountains.

A wide range of archaeological and architectural resources have been identified along the Donner Pass Route. Several linear and non-linear historic districts have been listed on the NHRP, but each is focused on a specific activity and period of use. Using the Donner Pass area as a case study, a stratified history of the route has been developed, which emphasizes the persistent importance of this linear landscape feature.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Roads, Rivers, Rails and Trails (and more): The Archaeology of Linear Historic Properties   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 604