Old Emigrant Road was a Sierra crossing used by Jedediah Smith in 1821, Major John Ebbetts in 1850, Snowshoe Thompson from 1856 to 1876, and gold seekers in the 1850s. The old road left Carson Pass Road in Hope Valley, crossed Border Ruffian Pass to Hermit Valley, Pacific Summit, and through Bear Valley to Big Trees. In the 1860s, the Big Trees Carson Valley Turnpike Co. built a toll road over Ebbetts Pass to Silver Mountain. Harvey Blood collected tolls at this point from 1864 to 1910.