New 49ers weather snowstorms

Christopher Smith

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Halfway through their month-long journey retracing the steps of the so-called "Lost 49ers," a group of Californians has endured snowstorms, blistered feet and fatigue.

But compared with the travails of the goldbug-stricken pioneers whose trail they are following, it's been a cakewalk.

Five Western history enthusiasts are retracing the 1849 route of gold-rushing emigrants who sought a shortcut from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. The party got lost and wandered the deserts of Southern Nevada and eastern California for four months. Several members died -- the exact number remains uncertain.

When rescued, survivors dubbed the bleak landscape "Death Valley" -- the ominous moniker that endures today.

The Palmdale, Calif., group, which is retracing the 376-mile trail, began walking Nov. 23 at Enterprise in southwestern Utah, following a meandering route over the rugged mountains bordering Nevada.

They met a supply truck two weekends ago about 10 miles west of Panaca, at a historic campsite called Bennett Springs.

"So far there have been no catastrophes, and while they were a little tired and windburned, they were in good health and spirits," said federal Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Dawna Ferris, who has monitored the group's progress from Enterprise and into Nevada.

"The toughest terrain is behind them now and they have remained on schedule, so it should get easier from now on," Ferris said.

According to Holly Smith, who is acting as official scribe for the trekkers, the group has traveled through two blizzards and freezing temperatures. Covering an estimated 12 to 15 miles a day on foot, the hikers were scheduled to pick up supplies this past weekend at the White River Narrows, about 35 miles north of the Nevada town of Hiko in Lincoln County. But they may have been slowed by foul weather.

The group -- Allan Smith, Clay Campbell, Jerry Freeman and Freeman's adult daughters Holly and Jennifer -- are using pioneer journals and historical research to retrace the little-known trail. They are attempting to document any remaining signs of the original 1849 trek because few researchers have traversed the entire route. BLM officials say an archaeological inventory of the 1849 path has never been done and the group's findings may be helpful.

Recently the expedition "re-found" an inscription left by one of the original emigrants, which historians knew about from journals but had not documented.

"They may also have found an overnight stop from the original journey because Jerry reported finding an area with several old, half-buried wagon pieces," Ferris said. "It's a site that will take some more research to verify."

Lavoid Leavitt and Eldon Pack of St. George intercepted the expedition shortly after it descended from the snow-filled mountains rimming the Great Basin between Utah and Nevada.

"They told us they ran into quite a snowstorm with probably 6 to 8 inches of snow that made it difficult to walk," said Leavitt, an Old West trails enthusiast who has driven portions of the 49ers' route. "The snow also covered up any signs of artifacts along that portion of the trail."

Sponsored by outdoor equipment manufacturers, the expedition is field-testing boots and other gear during the long-distance hike.

The Lost 49ers trail crosses the Department of Energy's Nevada Test Site and the top-secret air base, Area 51, both off-limits to public access. While the DOE will escort the expedition across portions of the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the military has denied access and the expedition must skirt Area 51. The expedition is scheduled to reach the border of the DOE preserve on Dec. 17.

They are scheduled to arrive at Death Valley National Monument on Christmas Day, similar to the original party.