Caleb Greenwood - Sublette-Greenwood Cutoff

Sublette-Greenwood Cutoff

In 1844 Greenwood, along with Isaac Hitchcock, guided the influential Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party across the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Reputedly 80 years old at the time, on reaching Sutter's Fort he had completed one of the first overland wagon journeys to California.

Returning east the following year with his two sons, Greenwood pioneered a new route bypassing the Truckee River Canyon. This subsequently became a main route of the California Trail, which hundreds of thousands of people followed in the California Gold Rush of 1849. While guiding the Stepens-Townsend-Murphy party along the Emigrant Trail in Wyoming, Greenwood suggested instead of following the original trail south to Fort Bridger, the party leave the main trail near the Little Sandy River and head west across the Wyoming high desert to rejoin the main trail in the Bear River valley. The new route cut 85 miles and 7 days off the trip, but it was risky as nearly 45 miles of the new route were without water. The trail gained popularity after it was detailed in a popular guide book published by Joseph Ware in 1849. Ware mistakenly called it the Sublette Cutoff after Solomon Sublette, who had described the trail to him. The route reached the height of its popularity during the California Gold Rush, when the need for speed outweighed risk.

Historians now refer to the route as the Sublette-Greenwood Cutoff in honor of Greenwood.