This image is the cover for the book Stories of the Humboldt Wagon Road, Transportation

Stories of the Humboldt Wagon Road, Transportation

Before the completion of the transcontinental railroad, there was the Chico and Humboldt Wagon Road, meant to connect California with the burgeoning mining industries of Nevada and Idaho. The ambitious plan to make Chico a major Northern California transportation hub was spearheaded by John Bidwell and began in earnest in 1864. The road opened new areas to mining and logging and provided opportunities for less scrupulous characters. Stagecoach robberies, murders and shootouts were just some of the misfortunes that occurred on the road, along with the dangers nature provided--snowstorms, perilous terrain and grizzly bears. Author Andy Mark offers a glimpse of what it was like for nineteenth-century travelers and settlers on the route of the Humboldt Wagon Road.

Andy Mark

Andy Mark worked as a brakeman and conductor on the Western Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads for twenty-one years before going back to college. A graduate of CSU-Chico, he spent sixteen years as a statistical consultant and data analyst before retiring in 2013. He is the author of two published articles, as well as a book on local history titled The West Branch Mill of the Sierra Lumber Company. Andy enjoys hiking in the backcountry, and he and his wife, Jill, are longtime rock hounds.

The History Press