Garst Seed Company will be "taking to the trails" this summer with their support of Charles "Chuck" Quillin, a New Sharon, Iowa wagon team owner and driver. Quillin, along with his wife
Mary, will be one of more than a dozen authentic replica horse and mule-drawn trail wagons that will participate in the historic re-enactment ride.

"Garst Seed Company is proud to support Chuck and Mary in their dedicated efforts to make this incredible trip," says Jeff Lacina, public relations manager for Garst Seed Company. "This year, 1999, marks the 150th Anniversary of the California Gold Rush and the opportunity to be a part of
this historic re-enactment and partnership with the Quillins is a unique opportunity."

The California National Historical Trail Wagon Train, will depart from St. Joseph, Missouri, on Monday, April 26, 1999, bound for the gold fields of California in a Sesquicentennial celebration of the 49ers land crossing. The wagon train will arrive in Sacramento, California on September 2nd, 129 days and more than 2,300 miles after their departure from the eastern bank of the Missouri River.

Quillin, a retired construction worker, and Mary are veterans of numerous wagon trail rides and re-creations, including the Mormon Trail recreation ride in 1996 and 1997. That re-creation trip took Quillin and his team from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah. Wagonmaster Ben Kern from Evansville, Wyoming and Trail Boss Donny Marincic from Sidney, Nebraska along with all of the wagon team drivers and crews, have issued invitations to local and area residents along the
California Trail to greet the train as it passes through their area and visit their campgrounds to chat with train crewmembers.

The wagon train will start up on Monday morning from the Pony Express Monument in downtown St. Joseph. Following a short parade through downtown St. Joseph, the wagon train will cross over the Missouri River on the Pony Express Bridge. During the first ten days of the trip, Kern's wagon train will accompany another historic wagon train to Lanham, Kansas, before turning north into Nebraska and picking up the Great Platte River Trail and heading west to California.  The California National Historical Trail Wagon Train has been endorsed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Bureau of Land Management - the three federal agencies charged with the responsibility of managing the historic trails - and the Oregon-California Trails Association, the primary trail preservation organization in the country. The agencies have sponsored a wagon, which will act as a rolling observation station, giving agency land managers a chance to look at impact to the trail.  Wagon Trail History The famous California "Gold Rush" began on January 24, 1848 when workers at a lumber mill at Sutter's Mill, on the South Fork of the American River in northern California, discovered gold. Their discovery ultimately led to the
gold rush of 1849 as thousands of "49ers" made their way to California's gold fields to seek their fortune.

The majority of the early 49ers traveled the great distance to California by sea, via Cape Horn and later across the Isthmus of Panama. Nearly 30,000 chose to travel overland, following the routes forged in 1841 by the Bidwell-Bartleson Party, and by subsequent travelers including Lansford Hastings and the Donner-Reed parties of 1846. Some of the overland emigrants took other trails as well, including the Old Spanish Trail that crossed New Mexico. Cherokee Indians living in
Oklahoma, who had experience in mining from the times they had lived in Georgia and North Carolina prior to being ordered to relocate to Indian Country in 1838 over the Trail of Tears, also went to California over a route known as the Cherokee Trail that crossed Oklahoma [Indian Territory], Colorado, and southern Wyoming before joining onto the main California Trail. The initial "gold rush" migration started in 1849 with the peak number of overland travelers occurring in was in 1852. In all some 400,000 people traveled to California in search of gold and other riches.

Bringing modern technology to an "old west" event, day-to-day recounts, journal entries and photographs from The California National Historical Trail Wagon Train can be viewed at the official  web site for the event, www.californiawagontrain.com. 

Garst History

For more than three generations, Garst Seed Company has been an industry leader in the development and production of hybrid seed corn. From humble beginnings in the 1930s, Garst has grown into one of the leading corn research and breeding companies in the world. Today, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, grain sorghum, sunflowers and canola are all marketed and sold under the Garst name. For more information or a complete listing of all Garst products, see your
local Garst Sales Representative, visit the Garst web site at www.garstseed.com or call 1-888-GO-GARST for more information.

California National Historical Trail Wagon Train Wagon Train Schedule

April
26 - Leave St. Joseph, MO
27 - Troy, (cross into Kansas)
28 - Highland, KS
29 - Hiawatha, KS
30 - Sabetha, KS

May
1 - North of Seneca, KS
2 - layover
3 - Clear Creek, KS
4 - Guittard, KS
5 - Marysville, KS
6 - Hollenberg Station, KS
7 - Lanham, KS
8 - Rock Creek (cross into Nebraska)
9 - Alexandria, NE
10 - Deshler, NE
11 - Oak, NE
12 - Deweese, NE
13 - Dyer Park, NE
14 - Hastings, NE
15 - Kenesaw, NE
16 - layover
17 - Minden, NE
18 - Ft. Kearney, NE
19 - Elm Creek, NE
20 - Lexington, NE
21 - Cozad, NE
22 - Gothenberg, NE
23 - layover
24 - Brady, NE
25 - North Platte, NE
26 - Sutherland, NE
27 - Paxton, NE
28 - Ogallala, NE
29 - layover
30 - layover
31 - California Hill, NE

June
1 - Ash Hollow, NE
2 - Oshkosh, NE
3 - Lisco, NE
4 - Broadwater, NE
5 - Bridgeport, NE
6 - layover
7 - Chimney Rock, NE
8 - layover
9 - Gering, NE
10 - Mitchell, NE
11 - Henry, NE
12 - Torrington (cross into Wyoming)
13 - layover
14 - Fort Laramie, WY
15 - Guernsey, WY
16 - Glendo, WY
17 - Douglas, WY
18 - Orpha Road
19 - Glenrock, WY
20 - layover
21 - Evansville, WY
22 - layover
23 - Willow Springs, WY
24 - Independence Rock, WY
25 - Martin's Cove, WY
26 - Split Rock, WY
27 - layover
28 - Jeffrey City, WY
29 - Sweetwater Station, WY
30 - Silver Creek Reservoir, WY

July
1 - Rock Creek, WY
2 - Pacific Springs (cross South Pass)
3 - Parting of the Ways
4 - layover (Dry Sandy)
5 - Sublette Flats, WY
6 - Names Hill, WY
7 - Opal Junction, WY
8 - Kemmeerer, WY
9 - Emigrant Springs, WY
10 - Cokeville, WY
11 - layover
12 - Montpelier, Idaho
13 - layover
14 - Soda Springs, ID
15 - Lava Hot Springs, ID
16 - Hawkins Reservoir, ID (Hudspeth)
17 - Daniels Reservoir, ID
18 - layover
19 - Twin Springs, ID
20 - Sublette Reservoir, ID
21 - Gardner Ranch, ID
22 - Almo, ID
23 - Goose Creek (Moulton School), ID
24 - Little Goose Creek (cross into Nevada)
25 - layover
26 - Corral Canyon Creek, NV
27 - Winecup Ranch, NV
28 - Wells, NV
29 - Halleck, NV
30 - Elko, NV
31 - layover

August
1 - layover (Elko, NV)
2 - Carlin, NV
3 - Dumphy, NV
4 - Battle Mountain, NV
5 - Valmy, NV
6 - Golconda, NV
7 - Winnemucca, NV
8 - layover
9 - Mill city, NV
10 - Rye Patch Dam, NV
11 - Lovelock, NV
12 - Carson Sinks, NV
13 - Forty Mile Desert (travel all night)
14 - Fallon, NV
15 - layover
16 - Silver Springs, NV
17 - Dayton, NV
18 - layover
19 - Carson City, NV
20 - layover
21 - Zephyr Cove, NV
22 - layover
23 - Meyers (cross into CA)
24 - Strawberry Lodge, CA
25 - Kyburz, CA
26 - Polleck Pines, CA
27 - Placerville, CA
28 - layover
29 - layover
30 - Eldorado Hills, CA
31 - Folsom, CA

September
1 - Corona, CA
2 - Sacramento, CA

Company news release
N1766