This dead end dirt road is named for an amazing pioneer hero. John Albert “Snowshoe” Thompson (1827-1876) was born Jon Torsteinson in Telemark, Norway. From 1856 until his death, he carried the U.S. Mail – on skis, not snowshoes – over the snowy Sierra Mountains, occasionally saving a stranded or injured traveler along the way. Thompson had no connection to this region; he, his wife Agnes, and their little boy Arthur (who died just two years after dad) lived south of Lake Tahoe. Angelenos needn’t trek all the way out to the high desert to pay their respects to Snowshoe: he also has a memorial boulder in Lower Carthay Circle Park.
Find it on the map:
