Soldier Meadows

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The History of the Soldier Meadows Ranch is very rich, and its record begins with the visit by John C. Fremont and his men who camped on New Years Eve 1843. Carrying Fremont's report, Jesse Applegate and a party of 15 men set out from Oregon and reached Soldier Meadows on July 11, 1846. Applegate's party intended to establish an alternate route to Oregon from the California Trail. Thereafter, pioneers traveled the Lassen/ Applegate trail from 1846 through the 1860’s which passed through the Black Rock Desert, known as a most dangerous and desolate stretch of the Trail. The pioneers left the main trail at what is now Rye Patch Reservoir on the Humboldt River and continued through the Black Rock Desert to Mud Meadows and the Soldier Meadows Basin. Most of the desert trip was made traveling at night without water and feed for their animals until they reached what is now known as Soldier Meadows Ranch. There are places where this trail is still visible and the area remains mostly unchanged since pioneer times.

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