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At the beginning of the 20^th century, automobiles began to replace horses and wagons. With a horseless carriage, the operator could choose the destination and route, leaving whenever they chose, rather than on the railroad’s timetable. 

The first automobiles to cross the Sierra came through Big Bend on the Dutch Flat-Donner Lake wagon road. This was not an easy journey. In 1910, George Habernicht wrote

A year ago the Sierra grades over which this trip is made were thought rather too steep for pleasurable motoring...although difficulties were experienced, it was found that the rewards in scenic grandeur and in the exhilaration of the mountain air more than repaid these trivial hardships.

The photograph here shows an early automobile crossing the South Yuba on a bridge just downstream of where Rainbow Lodge is located today. The bridge disappeared the year after this photo was taken, but the footings remain visible today.

Curves, grades, and road surfaces built for wagons were totally unsuited for autos. The small number of automobiles impeded development of new roads, and the lack of proper roads impeded automobile sales. 

The Lincoln Highway

From 1913 to 1928, the Lincoln Highway crossed the Sierra through here, following most of the old Dutch Flat-Truckee route. This was part of the nation’s first coast-to-coast road for automobiles. The Lincoln Highway was designed to be “free of tolls and open to lawful traffic of all description.”

The Sierra crossing is the only place in the nation where there were two Lincoln Highway routes. Big Bend is located on the original route between Reno and Sacramento. Later, a second route was designated-- south from Reno to Carson City, then over the mountains through Placerville, then to Sacramento, roughly following today’s U.S. 50. After WWI, the Big Bend route was also named “the Victory Highway."

The east side of Donner Pass circa 1910. An automobile is visible in the bottom of the frame. The future location of the Pioneer Bridge is in the left middle ground. It was built circa 1924.

By 1925, dozens of highways across the country had been named, which was very confusing for motorists. The federal government devised a highway numbering scheme that remains in use today. North-south routes have odd numbers (Interstate 5, U.S. 395), while east-west routes have even numbers (Interstate 80, U.S. 50). The Lincoln Highway officially became portions of U.S. 30 and U.S. 40.

The eagle monument at the California-Nevada State line on the Victory Highway. The large plaque reads "Dedicated to California’s sons and daughters who served their country in the world war 1917-1918 and to the memory of those who gave the last full measure of devotion." The Lycke family patriarch, George Lycke, worked on construction and maintenance of U.S. 40. Photograph courtesy of Eunice Lycke.

U.S. 40

By the 1920s, autos had become a fact of life for many Americans. Roads were being built with gentler curves, wider lanes, hardened surfaces, and other features to help accommodate our need for speed.

During this time, the federal government began to play a large role in highway development. Construction began on new and improved route across the Sierra--U.S. 40. Portions of this route were funded by national forest highway funds, including the crossing at Donner Pass. It was an entirely new route built specifically for automobiles and trucks, wider and straighter than the old wagon road. U.S. 40 replaced the Lincoln Highway through Big Bend in 1928.

The highlight of U.S. 40 was and is the Donner Memorial Bridge at the pass. Norman Raab designed this graceful arched bridge that has been photographed by thousands. In a remarkable coincidence, Mr. Raab's wife, Ruby Bishop Raab, was a direct descendant of Isaiah Hitchcock, one of the members of the 1844 Stephens-Townsend-Murphy party who first crossed the pass with covered wagons.

Pioneer Bridge in 1924, shortly after completion. The roadway was not paved at this point, but was surfaced with crushed rock.

Interstate 80

After WWII, it became clear that U.S. 40 was inadequate for the traffic crossing Donner Pass. California was booming, and the concept of interstate highways promised automotive freedom for the post-WWII generation.

The 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley helped speed construction of a new freeway between San Francisco and the Nevada state line. U.S. 40 was built to accommodate up to 6,000 vehicles per day. I-80 was designed for 25,000 vehicles per day. By 2000, the interstate averaged 36,000 vehicles per day across Donner Summit.

An I-80 overpass under construction just west of Big Bend in 1963. Under the span is a line of traffic on U.S. 40 and the South Yuba river. On the right end of the span is the trace of the Lincoln Highway/Dutch Flat Wagon road. Mid-slope on the ridge in the background is the line of the Southern Pacific railroad.

The interstate is designed as an “all weather” route. In 1932, when the Division of Highways first attempted to keep U.S. 40 open during winter, highway engineer C.H. Purcell wrote, “We are going to keep the state’s only possible outlet eastward from the Sacramento valley open this winter, when we can and as many days as we can.” He had 32 men at two maintenance stations, using 15 snowplows. Today, California’s largest highway maintenance station at Kingvale, just east of here, has 32 bays for snowplows and barracks for over 50 people. Another station, 15 miles west at Whitmore, provides a similar function for the freeway west of Yuba Gap.

Blowing snow off U.S. 40 following a snowstorm in the early 1960s. Plows are used to push snow to the roadside, and then blowers move the snow off of the right of way.

Despite the state’s best efforts, nature is still in charge. The dedication ceremony of the last section of I-80 across the Sierra, scheduled for November 1, 1964, was postponed due to heavy snowstorms. The dedication was finally held on November 20.