Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

Heritage Resources

Within its 6.3 million acres, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest contains an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites. The various types of heritage resources range from the enigmatic squiggles and curlicues of prehistoric rock art, to the phenomenal mining towns of the 19th century, to Euro-American emigrant trails and roads.

A number of Native American tribes claim Humboldt-Toiyabe lands as part of their ancestral homelands. These include different groups of Southern Paiute, Northern Paiute, Western Shoshone, and Washoe Indians. All of these Native American groups are the descendants of the prehistoric peoples that once inhabited the vast landscape stretching east from the Sierra Nevada Mountains across the basin and range lands of Nevada. Evidence of both historic Native American camps and prehistoric occupations are abundant throughout the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. While there is some evidence for very early Native American occupations (ca. 13,000 years ago) on the Forest near Ely, Nevada, archaeologists believe that most prehistoric uses of the mountain ranges managed by the H-T occurred after about 4500 years ago.

Europeans began to travel through the Great Basin region as early as the 17th century. However, it was not until the American westward expansion of the 19th century, spurred on by the California Gold Rush, that full-scale settlement occurred. Lands overseen by the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest are rich in historic sites, as represented by old emigrant roads, extensive mining towns, stagecoach stops, logging-related sites, among others.