and the sun shining on the willow and poplar trees, we walked out to the pond, edged in muddy banks, the imprints of hooves, wildflowers, and the bedrock slick with yesterday’s rain. he found a horseshoe on the ridge, along the path of the old Humboldt highway, this path of stagecoaches to silver mines lost in time. following the discovery of silver in the Humboldt Mountains of Nevada in 1861, John Bidwell began construction of a wagon route from Rancho Chico to Nevada, along the southeast rim of Big Chico Creek canyon and through the Sierra, the ruts worn down through bedrock. some things don’t need to be exact. he found a horseshoe on the ridge, huge and rusted, or perhaps the shoe had been thrown by a mule.