Snowshoe Thompson -

Historic Mail Carrier


If you've been around this area a few frigid winters, you've probably heard about Snowshoe Thompson. In these parts, parents don't lecture their kids about how many miles they walked in snow to school, they tell the story of Snowshoe Thompson.

Snowshoe carried the mail over the Sierra in the dead of winter from Placerville, California, to Genoa, Nevada. He did it before there was any other way to get it there. Even the livestock had enough horse sense and preferred to stay in warmer climates at that time of year. Genoa, it seems, was cut off from civilization once the snow started falling, often from October to April. Snowshoe Thompson became aware of the plight when he saw the following article in the Sacramento Union newspaper:

PEOPLE LOST TO THE WORLD - UNCLE SAM NEEDS CARRIER

People living east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and west of Salt Lake lose contact with the outside world as winter snows cut off all communications. The greatest cry from the people is for mail. Congress passed a bill August 18, 1856 providing for a post route from Placerville, Calif. to Genoa, Utah Territory. So far no one has come to accept the mail-carrying job this year, according to Mr. A. M. Thatcher, postmaster of Placerville.

At the time Thompson read this, he was working on a Putah Creek ranch in the Sacramento Valley. It grabbed his interest because he was born and raised in Telemark, Norway, a very mountainous region similar to the terrain of the Sierra Nevada. In Telemark, Norwegians used snowshoes for winter transportation.
The Norwegian snowshoes were similar in design to today's Nordic skis which turn up at the front. Thompson constructed a pair from memory and green oak wood. The snowshoes were heavy - about 25 pounds - and cumbersome -about 10 feet long. Even for his well-built, 6-foot frame, they were difficult to maneuver. Of course when the wood cured, the snowshoes were somewhat lighter but still challenging.

Thompson, according to the booklet "Snowshoe Thompson," published by the Carson Valley Historical Society, went to Placerville to practice using the snowshoes. For balance and as a guide, he held a long pole horizontally in front which helped him to more quickly make his way. After experimenting with the newly made equipment in a variety of situations and gaining in skill, Snowshoe finally approached postmaster Thatcher in Placerville and applied for the job of trans-Sierra mail carrier.
Thatcher felt obliged to lay out the facts: crossing the Sierra in midwinter is risky business; on horseback, two other men, Chorpenning and Woodward, met their match carrying mail for the U.S. postal service in the winter of 1851. After 16 days they stumbled into town on foot - their horses left frozen in the snow.
Thatcher imparted more stories of hardship from the few men who had crossed the mountains. All had trekked by snowshoe, using the Canadian kind. They reported that the trip was too dangerous because of the terrain, . . .


To read the rest of this story, pick up the Winter 1997 issue of Around Here Magazine. To make sure you don't miss any other great stories and features, we invite you to subscribe to Around Here. Back issues are available.


Information for this article was obtained in part from the Carson Valley Historical Society booklet "Snowshoe Thompson" (Keepsake No. 2)


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