Eastern Sierra history program features Snowshoe Thompson presentation Dec. 4
Wylder Hotel Hope Valley continues its Eastern Sierra history series with a living history, Chautauqua style presentation by local historian David Woodruff on Sierra Nevada legend Snowshoe Thompson.
The presentation is Saturday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. The 50-minute campfire program is free and open to the public and will be held inside at the Resort if inclement weather. Call 760-920-8061 for more information. Wylder Hotel Hope Valley is located at 14255 CA-88, Hope Valley, Calif.
According to a Wikipedia entry, Between 1856 and 1876, Snowshoe Thompson delivered mail between Placerville, California and Genoa, Nevada and later Virginia City, Nevada. Despite his nickname, he did not make use of the snowshoes that are native to North America, but rather would travel with what the local people applied that term to: ten-foot (over 3-meter) skis, and a single sturdy pole generally held in both hands at once.
He knew this version of cross-country skiing from his native Norway, and employed it during the winter as one of the earlier pioneers of backcountry skiing in the United States. Thompson delivered the first silver ore to be mined from the Comstock Lode. Later he taught others how to make skis, as well as the basics of their use. Despite his twenty years of service, he was never paid for delivering the mail.
Thompson typically made the eastward trip in three days, and the return trip in two days. Thompson carried no blanket and no gun; he claimed he was never lost even in blizzards.