The Humboldt Wagon Road

Part of the experience of living in Forest Ranch is learning about it's history. In the recently published book, The Humboldt Wagon Road (Arcadia; Images of America, 2012) Forest Ranch resident Marti Leicester and co-author David Nobel have given a fascinating account of the history of the Humboldt wagon road which was created in1863 by John Bidwell to run the 100 miles from Chico to Susanville. This road, which is the current Highway 32 was built in order to establish a trade route for the delivery of goods and services to Susanville and then to Idaho. The advent of the Pacific Railroad in 1869 put an end to the wagon transportation system.