Truckee, California, United States

🇺🇸 Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Truckee. The town's passenger rail station is located at 10065 Donner Pass Road in the historic downtown. Amtrak Train 5, the westbound California Zephyr, departs Truckee daily with service to Colfax, Roseville, Sacramento, Davis, Martinez, and Emeryville across the bay from San Francisco. Amtrak Train 6, the eastbound California Zephyr, departs Truckee daily with service to Reno, Sparks, Winnemucca, Elko, Salt Lake City, Provo, Helper, Green River, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Denver, Omaha, Galesburg, and Chicago. Capitol Corridor service from San Jose has been proposed, with the intention of going to Reno, Nevada. It is uncertain whether that extension may ever happen because there is only a single-track tunnel through the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains at Norden, California. Traffic is heavy, often with trains waiting on either side to cross through, and therefore the Union Pacific railroad has said in the past that it is unlikely that Amtrak passenger rail travel will increase in frequency unless a second tunnel is built.

Name Truckee's existence began in 1863 as Gray's Station, named for Joseph Gray's Roadhouse on the trans-Sierra wagon road. A blacksmith named Samuel S. Coburn was there almost from the beginning, and by 1866 the area was known as Coburn's Station. The Central Pacific Railroad selected Truckee as the name of its railroad station by August 1867, even though the tracks would not reach the station until a year later in 1868. It was renamed Truckee after a Paiute chief, whose assumed Paiute name was Tru-ki-zo. He was the father of Chief Winnemucca and grandfather of Sarah Winnemucca. The first Europeans who came to cross the Sierra Nevada encountered his tribe. The friendly chief rode toward them yelling, “Tro-kay!”, which is Paiute for 'Everything is all right'. The unaware travelers assumed he was yelling his name. Chief Truckee later served as a guide for John C. Frémont.

History The Truckee River flows from Lake Tahoe for approximately 100 miles (160 km) north-east to the border of the arid Great Basin of Nevada and Utah and into Pyramid Lake. This water source formed a natural, seasonal route for Native Americans. Although no particular tribe is considered to have inhabited Truckee year-round, the Washoe people occupied a large territory roughly centered in the modern day Carson City area, but Shoshone and Paiute Tribes were also present (the Paiute Tribe Reservation now encompasses Pyramid Lake).

These peoples are considered to be the primary source of Native American travelers in the area. Hobart Mills, just north of Truckee on Highway 89, has a large, horizontal, circular petroglyph of the type common to travel routes in Nevada. The dates of that petroglyph, as well as several etched into granite slabs on the summit west of Truckee, are not agreed upon. But those artifacts, as well as the abundance of arrowheads throughout the Truckee region, attest to a minimum of hundreds of years of Native American presence.

Like most of the modern history of the West, as the European settlers' population increased, the Native American population decreased. The Gold Rush of 1849 caused a surge in fortune-seeking settlers (although Truckee itself wasn't settled until later).

It is not known exactly when the last indigenous Native Americans passed through Truckee, but there is Washoe people oral history of the Donner Party tragedy of the winter of 1846–47.

Donner Party The Donner Party ordeal is arguably Truckee's most famous historical event. In 1846, a group of settlers from Illinois, originally known as the Donner-Reed Party but now usually referred to as the Donner Party, became snowbound in early fall as a result of several trail mishaps, poor decision-making, and an early onset of winter that year. Choosing multiple times to take shortcuts to save distance compared to the traditional Oregon Trail, coupled with infighting, a disastrous crossing of the Utah salt flats, and the attempt to use the pass near the Truckee River (now Donner Pass) all caused delays in their journey.

Finally, a large, early blizzard brought the remaining settlers to a halt at the edge of what is now Donner Lake, about 1,200 feet (370 m) below the steep granite summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains and 90 miles (140 km) east of their final destination, Sutter's Fort (near Sacramento). Several attempts at carting their few remaining wagons, oxen, and supplies over the summit—sometimes by pulling them up by rope—proved impossible due to freezing conditions and a lack of any preexisting trail. The party returned, broken in spirit and short of supplies, to the edge of Donner Lake. A portion of the camp members also returned to the Alder Creek campsite a few miles to the east.

During the hard winter the travelers endured starvation and were later found to have practiced cannibalism. Fifteen members constructed makeshift snowshoes and set out for Sutter's Fort in the late fall but were thwarted by freezing weather and disorientation. Only seven survived: two were lost, and six died. Those who died were used as food by those who remained. The Truckee camp survivors were saved by a Reed Party member who had set out ahead after having been ejected from the party months earlier for killing another man in a violent argument. Seeing that the group never arrived at Sutter's Fort, he initiated several relief parties.

Of the original 87 settlers in the Donner-Reed party, 48 survived the ordeal. The Donner Memorial State Park is dedicated to the settlers and is located at the East End of Donner Lake.

Other historical events Truckee grew as a railroad town originally named Coburn Station, starting with the Transcontinental Railroad. The railroad goes into downtown Truckee, and the Amtrak passenger lines still stop there on the trip from Chicago to San Francisco.

Truckee's Sinophobic movement had begun during the Reconstruction Period, marked by the Trout Creek Outrage of 1876: By 1876, some 300 of the town’s residents, from workers to its most prominent citizens, had formed a local chapter of the Order of the Caucasians, also known as the Caucasian League, to drive out the Chinese. Truckee gained statewide notoriety that summer when late one night seven of the group's members, clad in black, surrounded and set fire to two cabins full of Chinese woodcutters who had refused to leave the area. The vigilantes shot at the Chinese men as they ran out of the cabin, killing forty-five-year-old Ah Ling.

Charles Fayette McGlashan, local lawyer and owner/publisher of the Truckee Republican, defended those accused in the Trout Creek Outrage and was a leader in the town's anti-Chinese movement. In 1886, the town's Chinese inhabitants, about 1,400 in number, were expelled from Truckee as part of a campaign that included a boycott of any business that did business with Chinese.

In 1891, lawman Jacob Teeter was killed in a violent gunfight with fellow lawman, James Reed (no relation to James Frazier Reed of the Donner Party). Constable Reed was among those accused of participating in the Trout Creek Outrage fifteen years prior.

Truckee reportedly had one of the nation's first mechanized ski lifts at the site of the Hilltop Lodge. The historic Hilltop Lodge was converted to a restaurant in the 1940s by the Crandall Brothers, and eventually became Cottonwood Restaurant and Bar. There were possibly two rope tows and a Poma lift, which was installed in 1954. At the same location there was a ski jump constructed during the early 1900s that was designed by Lars Haugen, a seven-time Olympic ski jumping champion.

Incorporation In 1993, Truckee incorporated as a city.

Geography Truckee is located along Interstate 80. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 33.7 square miles (87 km²), of which 32.3 square miles (84 km²) is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) (3.96%) is water, mostly Donner Lake and the Truckee River.

Demographics The 2020 US Census reported that Truckee had a population of 16,729. According to the Census, the breakdown of the town's population by race and ethnicity in 2020 was: 12,946 (77.4%) White, 3,128 (18.7%) Hispanic or Latino, 31 (0.2%) African American, 92 (0.5%) Native American, 275 (1.6%) Asian, 9 (0.1%) Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 1,446 (8.8%) other races, and 1,930 (11.5%) from two or more races.

Per the 2021 American Community Survey, 50.3% of residents were male and 49.7% were female. 22.2% of residents were under 18, 15.9% were 65 or older, and the median age was 41.9 years. 8.1% of the town's population were people with disabilities.

There were 6,247 households, out of which 59.7% were married-couple family households, 18.8% had a male householder with no spouse present, and 12.5% had a female householder with no spouse present. The average family size was 3.07.

There were 13,374 housing units, of which 49.4% were reported as vacant and 50.6% were reported as occupied.

12.8% of Truckee residents had moved: 4.1% of Truckee residents had moved within the same county, 5.2% had moved from a different county within California, 1.1% had moved from a different state, and 2.4% had moved from abroad.

Transportation

See also: Truckee (Amtrak station)

The historic Truckee Hotel, April 2007

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Truckee. The town's passenger rail station is located in the historic downtown. Amtrak Train 5, the westbound California Zephyr, departs Truckee daily with service to Colfax, Roseville, Sacramento, Davis, Martinez, and Emeryville across the bay from San Francisco. Amtrak Train 6, the eastbound California Zephyr, departs Truckee daily with service to Reno, Sparks, Winnemucca, Elko, Salt Lake City, Provo, Helper, Green River, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Denver, Omaha, Galesburg, and Chicago. Capitol Corridor service from San Jose has been proposed, with the intention of going to Reno, Nevada. It is uncertain whether that extension may ever happen because there is only a single-track tunnel through the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains at Norden, California. Traffic is heavy, often with trains waiting on either side to cross through, and therefore the Union Pacific railroad has said in the past that it is unlikely that Amtrak passenger rail travel will increase in frequency unless a second tunnel is built.

Truckee Tahoe Airport, October 2018

There is a free public bus, operated by neighboring Placer County, California; this connects the Truckee train station to the West Shore of Lake Tahoe, and a second goes to Incline Village, Nevada. There are also winter ski buses between Reno Airport and the ski areas near Truckee. Greyhound operates from the Amtrak rail station, going west to Sacramento and San Francisco, and east to Reno, Salt Lake City, and Denver. There are also private bus companies from the San Francisco Bay Area which bring skiers up to Truckee for day trips.

Interstate 80 passes just to the north of central Truckee. Essentially, it follows the old emigrant wagon route. Reno is 31 miles (50 km) to the east on I-80. State Route 89, a north–south highway, connects Truckee to the West Shore of Lake Tahoe.

The Truckee-Tahoe Airport provides access to the North Lake Tahoe recreational area through general aviation services. The airfield boasts a 7000-foot main runway and a 4600-foot crosswind runway. The airport is not serviced by any commercial airline at the present time, although commercial flights are available from the nearby Reno-Tahoe International Airport. There are also glider tours operated from the airport.

Government The town is governed by a five-member Town Council, which elects one of its members as Mayor; the mayor presides over meetings and ceremonial events, but has no other special responsibilities. The mayor as of December 2019 is David Polivy. The first mayor of Truckee was Kathleen Eagan.

State and federal representation In the California State Legislature, Truckee is in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Brian Dahle, and the 1st Assembly District, represented by Republican Megan Dahle.

In the United States House of Representatives, Truckee is in California's 3rd congressional district, represented by Republican Kevin Kiley.

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Truckee has 9,910 registered voters. Of those, 4,336 (43.8%) are registered Democrats, 1,901 (19.2%) are registered Republicans, and 1,398 (14.1%) have declined to state a political party.

Education The closest large universities are in Reno, Nevada, and Sacramento, California. The two-year Sierra College, headquartered in Rocklin, has its Tahoe-Truckee campus in town. Students can complete all the requirements for a two-year Associate of Arts degree at this campus, as well as various certificates.

The Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District provides K-12 education to Truckee and the Lake Tahoe area with nine traditional schools, of which two elementary schools, a middle school, elementary school and Truckee High School are in the town itself. A newer middle school was recently built as well.

In interscholastic athletics, due to Truckee's isolation from the rest of California by the Sierra Nevada crest, Truckee High competes in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association along with four other similarly isolated California schools: North Tahoe High School, South Tahoe High School, Coleville High School, and Needles High School.