History's footprint left in Dayton

I never drive down Pike Street but I think of the traffic that traveled the road before me. Because I have done extensive research on the Dayton area, it's not hard to conjure up a mind's picture of past travel.

Before the wagons came lumbering down the road toward the gold fields of California, there were groups of explorers who came through and rested right here. Their footprints made that first trail West. It was just a path that was not defined by heavy travel.

Because of the first travel West, and this being a pleasurable resting place, a trading post came to be. Spafford Hall's trading post served the pioneers.

In 1954, Hall was severely wounded in a hunting accident. He sold to James McMarlin and the post was called "McMarlin's." Major Ormsby bought the trading post before 1860. The property was in his name when he was killed in the Pyramid Lake Indian War.

When emigrants left the trading post, it was a hard pull up the hill to continue their journey. They went over the hill where the cemetery is located - close examination of the terrain shows wagon tracks still imprinted in the hill.

Although short-lived, the Pony Express rode down Pike Street on its way over the Sierra to Sacramento. I can only imagine the excitement it created when people heard the hoof beats coming and going down Pike Street.

Those young men were pretty gutsy fellows. Just imagine, the lonely riders out there wondering if there would be someone at the next station to relieve them.

At times, the local American Indians did their best to keep the mail from going through.

There were more historic happenings along the emigrant trails through Dayton, with Wells Fargo and Overland stages trekking through, too.

And in the 1920s, today's Pike Street became the Lincoln Highway. Manuel King was the consul here in town.

Diarist Emma Nevada Barton Loftus speaks of Manuel often, up to when he died. Mrs. King was Emma's friend, and she spoke often of her, until she moved to Carson City. They remained lifetime friends.

Although the highway has since moved from Pike Street to its present location, it will forever remain the Lincoln Highway. Let's make sure we preserve the memory of this famous federal route serving the United States from coast to coast.

• Ruby McFarland is a 17-year resident of Dayton, a board member of the Dayton Historical Society and a docent at the museum.