Fandango Pass
Elevation6135 ft
LocationModoc County, California, U.S.
RangeWarner Mountains
Coords41.8021136°N 120.206895°W

The Fandango Pass (previously Lassen Pass; variants Lassen Cut-off, Lassen Horn)[1] is a gap in the Warner Mountains of Modoc County, California, United States. Located in the Modoc National Forest, its elevation is 6,135 feet (1,870 m) above sea level.[1] It is approximately 5 mi (8.0 km) southwest of Fort Bidwell.[2]

Fandango Pass was historically notable for its location as the convergence of two trails, the Applegate and the Lassen, that were traveled by emigrant pioneers between 1846 and 1850.[3] The pass can now be traversed on a 10 mi (16 km) section of graded gravel, 1.5 lanes wide. It is closed during winter storms.[4]

History

The mountain pass was located at a convergence of two trails, the Applegate and the Lassen, that were traveled by emigrant pioneers between 1846 and 1850.[3] The Applegate Trail, originally intended as a less dangerous route to the Oregon Territory, was established in 1846 by the Applegate brothers and Levi Scott,[5] and ran through today's U.S. states of Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon. The Lassen Horn Trail[6] was established by Peter Lassen two years later and ran south at Goose Lake towards California Gold Rush mines and settlements.[7] Though the pass was extensively traversed from 1848 until 1853, its importance declined after 1869 with the opening of the Cedar Pass wagon road.[6]

To reach the pass, the emigrants had to cross or bypass Upper Alkali Lake in order to reach the Warner Mountains which is located to the west of the lake.[8] The historic cutoff, part of the California Trail, required passing through Rabbithole Springs, crossing the Black Rock Desert and High Rock Canyon before finally arriving at Surprise Valley, a journey of approximately 100 miles (160 km) of desert travel. From here, the trail climbs steeply to reach the pass, gaining about 1,600 ft (490 m) in about 2 mi (3.2 km).[8] From the summit, the trail descended steeply into the southeast end of Fandango Valley[2] by Goose Lake on the Oregon-California border. The Fandango Pass trail section is visible on the eastern side of the summit.[9]

Name

The pass, known initially as Lassen's Pass (1857 map) or Lassen Pass (1864 map),[2] was named for Lassen by gold seekers in 1849 who followed the route made by Lassen the previous year.[2]

One theory of the name change, from Lassen to Fandango, is that in the 1850s, an Indian massacre may have occurred in the area. The massacre involved a large emigrant train that had camped at the edge of the valley. While the party indulged in a fandango after finding game, grass, and water,[10] it was attacked by Indians. Another theory suggests that Wolverine Rangers camping in the valley found it to be so cold that they burned their wagons for heat and danced a fandango. They named their camp site "Fandango Valley". Later pioneers who passed the area and saw burned wagons deduced that an Indian massacre had occurred.[11][12][13] Fairfield describes an 1858 skirmish between Whites and Indigenous people that occurred near Fandango Valley that resulted in at least 17 Indigenous men being scalped by Whites.[14]

While the valley, peak and pass were named Fandango in the 1870s, a 1949 map, nonetheless, showed the pass as being named Lassen Horn.[2]

Landmark

On July 15, 1956, the Fandango Pass section of the Applegate-Lassen Emigrant Trail became California Historical Landmark No. 546. The plaque marker is located 10.8 mi (17.4 km) east of Highway 395 on Fandango Pass Road (County Road 9).[3] A second marker is located off the road, placed by Trails West.[8]

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ Durham, David L. (1998). California's geographic names: a gazetteer of historic and modern names of the state. Quill Driver Books. p. 376. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  3. ^
  4. ^ Green, Stewart M. (2004). Scenic Driving California. 2 ed. Globe Pequot. p. 71. ISBN 0-7627-3481-7.
  5. ^ "California National Historic Trail - Fandango Pass". U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  6. ^ "The Applegate-Lassen Trail". hmdb.org. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Warner Mountain issue". The Journal of the Modoc County Historical Society. 1991.
  8. ^ "THE APPLEGATE TRAIL, A VIRTUAL TOUR, CONTINUED". emigranttrailswest.org. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  9. ^ "Point of Interest - Applegate-Lassen Trail - Fandango Pass Section". fs.fed.us. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  10. ^ Wilkerson, Lyn (2003). American Trails Revisited: Following in the Footsteps of the Western Pioneers. iUniverse. p. 227. ISBN 0-595-28262-8.
  11. ^ "Fandango Pass". Oakland Tribune. September 2, 1956. p. 33. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  12. ^ Rensch, Hero Eugene; Rensch, Ethel Grace; Hoover, Mildred Brooke (1966). Historic Spots in California, Third Edition. Hoover. 3 ed. Stanford University Press. p. 208. ISBN 0-8047-4020-8.
  13. ^ Helfrich, Devere (1971). "The Applegate Trail". Klamath Echoes. ' (9): 68. Klamath County Historical Society. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  14. ^ Fairfield, Asa Merrill (1916). Fairfield's pioneer history of Lassen County, California. p. 116. Retrieved December 11, 2022.