Ingalls Creek Trailhead

During the war of 1855, Captain Benjamin Ingalls discovered gold in the creek that bears his name. Captain Ingalls, served as a scout for the U.S. Army and had explored the eastern slope of the Cascades.

While scouting the Wenatchee River, he and his guide, Colawash found several gold nuggets in a stream. They dared not keep any of the nuggets they found for if they were to be discovered carrying gold by the hostiles, they would be killed for their gold. Ingalls and Colawash had to abandon their find for now. When they returned to their company, they did not tell anyone what they found. 

Ingalls wanted to return later to the creek and pan the gold alone. Later when Ingalls and his partner, John Knot were riding through some thick brush on their way to find the gold, the Captain accidentally snapped back a branch and it hit his partner, which caused his gun to discharge and it ended up killing Captain Ingalls. The gold would not be found again until 1860.

From the Ingalls Creek Trailhead you can hike up an abandoned section of the old highway. This section of Sunset Highway was abandoned in 1956 when the new highway over Swauk Pass was completed. About 5 years later, there was a massive landslide that buried the old road 1.5 miles south of the trailhead.