Old California-Oregon Road

Shasta County August 29, 1993

Continuing south for 4.3 miles on 273 we roll up to our next landmark, the Old California to Oregon road. The stage line promised to get from San Francisco to Portland in six days in their mud wagon coaches. The mud wagons were lighter than the Concords, and had wider rims which were better suited to the rough road. It’s no wonder why steamships were so popular for the journey.

"On the afternoon of the 8th of October, I left Portland for San Francisco by the overland route ... I took a seat in a coach of the California and Oregon Stage Company to commence my long ride ... Four gentlemen and two ladies with children occupied the inside while the driver had plenty of company on top ... Careful driving is required on these mountain roads, necessarily narrow in the most dangerous places, so that a few inches divergence from the single track would be a sure upset into the ragged abysses of darkness below. The night was radiant. I never saw more brilliant heavens, even in the tropics, than on the Oregon Mountains."
—Frances Fuller Victor, 1870

Plaque inscription: NO.

58 OLD CALIFORNIA-OREGON ROAD

- This marks the location of the main artery of travel used by pioneers between the Trinity River and the northern mines of California and Oregon.
Location: NW corner of Hwy 99 (P.M. 7.12) and Spring Gulch Rd, 1.7 mi N of Anderson
Google maps: 40.466148,-122.324245