They Crossed the Mountains (Documentary, DVD)
This excellent documentary film details the history of the Western States Trail from Lake Tahoe, across the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Sacramento Valley. It describes the magnitude of how the trail was used by the Maidu and Washoe Indians before the miners flocked to its canyons and ridges during the 1850s Gold Rush. Interviews with historians Mike Lynch, Gordy Ainsleigh, Jack Veal, Hal Hall and others who know and love the Western States Trail today are intertwined with footage from a horseback trip made in 1929 when Robert Montgomery Watson showed Western States Trail Foundation founder, Wendell Robie and several friends the trail as they marked it along the way. By learning this history, the very roots of why this trail is available to all today, your appreciation for the Western States Trail will be greatly enhanced. A must for any rider, runner or hiker. Produced in 2008 by Tauras Productions for the Western States Trail Foundation. 52 minutes.