Historical Markers of
White Pine County
- HM 9 - Copper Country
- HM 51 - Schellbourne
- HM 52 - Cherry Creek
- HM 53 - Hamilton
- HM 54 - Ward Mining District
- HM 84 - Jedediah Strong Smith (Explorer of the Western Wilderness)
- HM 98 - Osceola (1872-1940)
- HM 99 - Taylor
- HM 100 - Nevada Northern Railway
- HM 184 - Ward Charcoal Ovens
Nevada Landmarks Home Page
*HM 84*
-- Jedediah Strong Smith (Explorer of the Western Wilderness) --
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Location: Eastern White Pine, Steptoe Valley
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NOTES: Careful... this one is NOT SIGNED and easy to miss! This Rest Area is easily seen, but seems a bit redundant because most people don't need to stop as they whiz right out of Ely, a town of many services.
Description:
In May-June, 1827, Jedediah Smith attempted to find a route from California's central valley to the Great Salt Lake Valley in Utah, and he became the first European to completely cross what is now Nevada. Because Smith's journal and map have never been found, his exact route is unknown. Based on Smith's own statements about his difficult trip, modern Nevada historians and geographers have pieced together the most plausible route. Smith crossed the Sierra Nevada at Ebbetts Pass, swung southeast along or across the headwaters and the middle reaches of Walker River, and passed into central Nevada's trackless waste south of Walker Lake. He entered Smoky Valley on its southwest side in June, 1827, and crossed the valley in a northeasterly direction. He then paralleled the future Simpson Survey, route of the Pony Express and Overland Stage, along modern U.S. Highway 50.
