June 3, 1961

JUNE

1961

TIOGA ROAD

1883-1961

Cover : Storm Juniper From Tresidder and Hose The Trees of Yosemite

IN COOPERATION WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

Mather Plaque at Tioga Pass Yosemite Volume 40, Number 3, June 24, 1961

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is published twelve times a year by the Yosemite Natural History Association, Inc., in cooperation with the Naturalist division, Yosemite National Park, John C. Preston, Superintendent; Douglass H. Hubbard, Chief Park Naturalist. Subscription rates are 1 volume - $2.00, 2 volumes - $3.50, 3 volumes - $5.00, life - $50.00, single current issue 25 cents. Price of back issues upon request. Manuscripts dealing with Yosemite's natural and human history are welcomed from our readers. The contents of this publication are not official in nature and do not necessarily reflect the policy of the National Park Service. Articles may be reproduced if credit is given to Yosemite. Address all correspondence to Editor, Yosemite, Box 545, Yosemite National Park, California.

THE TIOGA ROAD A HISTORY

by Keith A. Trexler, Junior Park Naturalist

The Tioga Road has been called the "road to dreams." Perhaps, though, its miles of unexcelled scenic beauty have fulfilled the desires, the long-felt longing for a contact with Nature's wilderness, even the dreams of many thousands who have passed over its often twisting, ever-changing course. Here is its story; the decision to build one.

The Tioga Road trails have existed across the Sierra Nevada since the first large mammals came to feed on the mountain slopes thousands of years ago. Deer and mountain lion still move up and down the Sierra slopes to find tender young browse as snowlines recede. Others cross over the passes seeking salt. Early ethnologist John Muir noted that especially in wild and inaccessible terrain the aboriginal foot trails through the region show "white men, Indians, bear, and sheep, etc., be found converging at the best places."

No records of man's use of the trails exist for the next 19 years. In 1852, 1st Lt. Tredwell Moore and his troopers of the 2nd Infantry pursued a group of Indians wanted for the death of two prospectors in Yosemite Valley. The party traveled to Tenaya Lake and from there over the Mono trail to Bloody Canyon. During the trip Moore noticed rich-looking outcrops and brought back samples of gold to Mariposa.

The Mono trail, an Indian footpath from Crane Flat, through Tamarack Flat via Tenaya Lake to Tuolumne Meadows, was used by the first party of non-Indians to pass through what is now Yosemite National Park. Joseph Reddeford Walker and his party, trekking over the Sierra, probably used the Indian pathway, evident even though many parts were covered with snow. The group endured great hardships and took over a month to make the crossing from Bridgeport Valley to the San Joaquin. They were undoubtedly the first Europeans to see the Giant Sequoias.

Next to appear were the pedestrians and prospectors, whose midden piles near El Portal show evidences of transsierran trade. Indians did not travel for pleasure; their purpose was trade. Acorns, pine nuts, pandora moth larvae, fly pupae, baskets, rabbit and buffalo robes, salt and obsidian were traded by the east slope Miwoks for the Eastern Sierra materials, not native west of the Sierra, which help us trace the early Indian paths. Numerous highways of today, and the Tioga Road, follow these aboriginal trade routes.

outcrops and brought back samples of Tioga route purely for pleasure, jc gold to Mariposa. Among those who neyed over the Sierra via Tuolurr, saw Moore's samples was Leroy VinMeadows and Tenaya Lake, taking t ing, of whom we shall hear more later. Coulterville Trail to Yosemite Valli (5) Moore ' s expedition reports inter- (ll) Other evidence indicates tF ested James M. Hutchings in bringing the Mono Trail was being used the first tourists into the Yosemite Valtourist travel, especially by hikers fr' ley, and, according to Brockman, " pubYosemite Valley heading for Tuolurr tic interest in mining opportunities east Meadows. (12) of the Sierra was kindled, resulting in John Muir 's first visit to this sp the development and use of a trail in tacular country was in 1869 with 1857, from Big Oak Flat through the band of sheep. In traveling to 1 Tenaya Lake-Tuolumne Meadows reMeadows John and his charges foil( gion. This route approximated the old ed the general course of the press Mono Indian Trail and was forerunner Tioga Road. (13). In the same yt of the present Tioga Road. " (6) J. H. Soper and E. G. Field with o In 1852 Leroy (or Lee) Vining led a blankets and a "supply of crackers c group of prospectors over the Sierra via sardines" hiked over Mono Pass, r Bloody Canyon and generally explored a sheepherder (Muir?) in the Mead() the region. Although Vining settled in and followed the trail out to Coull what is now Lee Vining Canyon he opville. (14) parently did no mining. Instead he By 1870 railroads had come to w homesteaded about two miles up-canin a few miles of the west end of yon from the present power plant and Mono trail. In 1871 Copperopolis built a sawmill, thus being the first a terminus of the lines from San Fr to settle in the Mono area. For a time cisco. Travel to Yosemite Valley he supplied lumber to the eastside increasing. More than likely visit mininn camps, but his career ended took side trips over the trail to -Ft, in an Aurora saloon where he accidentumne but no records exist of th ally shot and killed himself. (8) trials and tribulations. The Big C Although no rush followed Lt. Flat Road reached Crocker 's in 1f Moore's discoveries, there was in 1857 and Yosemite Valley in 1874, but an exodus from the Tuolumne mines to there was no road to the Yosemite h the Dogtown and Monoville settlecountry. (7) An economic boost ments near Mono Lake.(5) Much of needed. the old Mono Trail was used by the gold-seekers and the route was well The Mines blazed and cleared by Tom McGee Although Lt. Moore's discove "following very closely the old foot excited the Mariposa miners, noth trail". Bunnell makes the point that in the way of true mines seemed Indian trails were unfit for pack anicome from the reports. Early in 1E mats. He felt they " had been purposea prospecting party consisting of ly run over ground impassible to horses, justice of the peace, an ex-sea captc " (9) a surveyor, a dentist and a profes The early 1860s saw the coming of was prospecting in the Bloody Can) Josiah D. Whitney of the California area. The dentist, George W. " D( Geological Survey. His description of Chase, remarked, while camped n the headwaters of the Tuolumne were Tioga Pass, that if they could published in 1865, with Tioga Pass spend one more day in the area (which he called MacLane 's) being could locate and claim "the bigg noted as 600' lower than the present silver ledge ever discovered." The n route (Mono Pass) and perhaps a betcloy he placed a flattened tin can, ter transcontinental route. (10) which he had scratched the Iocat In the summer of 1858 a party from notice with his knife, on Tioga H Mono Lake, including a woman and The ore he carried out was never baby, visited Yosemite Valley. This sayed as he and his partners cirri) group, perhaps the first to use the at Monoville just when the Auri

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Pike was made. Each mode money feet into the mountain, but never to none ever returned to the "thunproduce pay dirt. (15) h v ing big silver ledge" on Tioga On February 25, 1882 the Great (15) Sierra Tunnel was begun by twelve Some 15 years later, William miners working three 8-hour shifts. sky, Jr., while herding his father 's Soon it was evident that drilling ma-.p, found a rusty pick and shovel chinery would be needed. (17) This was o flattened tin can, on which he purchased and shipped to Lundy, cn,I,) make out, " Notice, we the I the east side of the Sierra. The Homer.rsigned " and the date 1860. Mining Index reported : "The transporvong heard of the lost mine, Brusky Cation of 16,000 lbs. of machinery 4 ore samples to his father, who across one of the highest and most ted them and pronounced them rugged branches of the Sierra Nevada rthless. Young Brusky did not dismountains in mid-winter where no roads easily. The next summer he ds exist, over vast fields and huge embankments a small hole in the ledge and mbankments of yielding snow and in ured some better looking ore. " It the face of furious windstorms laden t until 1877 that an assay found with drifting snow, and the mercury re to be rich in silver. dancing attendance on zero, is a task Cloims were not actually made until calculated to appall the sturdiest Y ma mountaineer; yet J. C. Kemp, manager 18 when nine were established and of the Great Sierra Consolidated Silver Tioga mining district organized. Co. is now engaged in such on under taki I The "city" of Dana, site of the ng and with every prospect of success N Sierra Mine, was given a post at an early day—so complete has,ce in 1880. (16) In 1881 the Great been the arrangement of details and so intelligently Consolidated Silver Company ntelligently directed is every movement. with eastern capital, bought nt. The first ascent, from Mill all claims on Tioga Hill and started Creek to the mouth of Lake Canyon, (ling a tunnel destined to go 1784 is 990 feet, almost perpendicular. From et Sierra Mine Cabin, Tioga Hill

that point to the south end of Lake Oneida, a distance of about two miles, is a rise of 845 feet, most of it in two hills aggregating half a mile in distance. The machinery will probably be hoisted straight up to the summit of Mount Warren ridge from the southwest shore of Lake Oneida, an almostvertical rise of 2,160 feet. From the summit the descent will be made to Saddlebags Lake, thence down to and along Lee Vining Creek to the gap or pass in the dividing point to tunnel, a distance of about one mile, is a rise of 800 feet, most of it in the first quarter of a mile. "The machinery consists of an engine, 'boiler, air compressor, Ingersoll drills, iron pipe, etc. for use in driving the Great Sierra tunnel. It is being transported on six heavy sleds admirably constructed of hardwood. Another, or rather a pair of bobsleds accompanies the expedition, the latter being laden with bedding, provisions, cooking utensils, etc. The heaviest load is 4,200 lbs. Ten or 12 men, two mules, 4500 feet of one-inch manila rope, heavy double block and tackle and all the available trees along the route are employed in snaking the machinery up the mountain. The whole being under the immediate supervision of Mr. Kemp, who remains at the front and personally directs every movement. It is expected that all sleds be got up into Lake Canyon today, and then the work will be pushed day and night, with two shifts of men. " It took Kemp and his men more than two months, from March 4 until May, to move the eight tons a distance of about nine miles. It is said that Kemp's remark at the end of the back-breaking task was, "It's no wonder that mountaineers grow old!" (15) The machinery was installed and put to work immediately upon its arrival at the mine. Meanwhile, on March 13, 1882, a post office had been established at Bennettville, company headquarters. (16) Mining companies swarmed to the area. More than twenty claims were located in the Tioga mining district alone. Bennettville was touted as an excellent location with ample room for 50,000 inhabitants, abundant water supply and invigorating climate. (17) Other claims were found. The Nevada Mine at Lundy about 10 miles north of Tioga produced 3 million dollars, though the Golden Crown, Mt. Hoffman and Mt. Gibbs groups followed the Great Sierra Mine example. (15a) In 1881 the Sierra Telegraph Co. built a line from Lundy to Yosemite Valley via Bennettville.

On July 3, 1884 the boom was over. A financial "crisis" occasioned the Great Sierra's Executive Committee to suspend all operations. Dana City and Bennettville joined the silent ranks of fabled western ghost towns. Although more than $300,000 had been spent, as best we know, no ore ever left the Sheepherder for mining. (15) But a road had been built! The Great Sierra Wagon Road

Expectations of success and need for large quantities of supplies combined with the near-disaster of hauling mining machinery over the snow led the Great Sierra Board of Directors to consider the building of a wagon road to the mines. Although trail routes had been established to the eastern Sierra roads via Lundy and Bloody Canyon, the new road was to cross the Sierra from the west with goods to be hauled.

(For the complete story of the mining operations, see Douglass H. Hubbard's Ghost Mines of Yosemite.)

Eastern End of the Great Sierra Wagon Road, Bennettville, 1898 from the railhead at Copperopolis via the Short Line Railroad to the mines. Monies provided for supplies, via Lundy, for the survey crew. (28) Civil Engineer R. F. Lord in 1881 estimated the total cost to build a road from near Crane Flat to the mines at $17,000. (27) In the fall of 1882 the company gave the go-ahead and Charles N. Whitney was assigned as engineer with William C. Priest as his assistant. Both commenced survey and construction began at the survey point. H. B. Carpenter and H. P. Medlicott conducted the road and railroad survey with a Mr. Hall and John V. Ferretti as chainmen. In addition to surveying the road survey the group was running a line for a railroad "to make the shortest and most direct route from Bost to San Francisco." Years later, McLean Pass was considered for a portion of the Union Pacific route. (23) In July of 1882 the California and Yosemite Short Line Railroad had been incorporated in Sacramento to run from Modesto to Mono Valley via "old Vining Creek or McLean Pass" with "Principal place of business, Bennettville, Tioga Mining District." J. C. Van Eee, C. W. Curtis, O. H. Williams, and R. W. Woolard, all of the Great Sierra Consolidated Silver Co., capitalized the company with $5 million stock with $250,000 actually subscribed. The California and Yosemite Short Line Railroad incorporated. 0 I, No. 3, 1961

mules. While camped on Yosemite Creek the mules had been stampeded by bears and one "had slipped into the little stream and hung itself. " Later, on the return trip, Ferretti found the construction gang camped in the same spot with the dead mule still in the creek only a few feet upstream from their water point. After completing the survey through Tioga Pass the surveyors tied in the mine locations and disbanded. John Ferretti joined the construction gang as a blacksmith 's helper and general roustabout. His pay was augmented by pies, cakes and cookies slipped to him by Sing Lee, the camp cook. John 's final act on the job included splitting his big toe with an axe. The "first aid man" applied "a large chew of tobacco, took a rag and tied it up, guaranteeing that it would be as good as new in a few days. At that moment... I severed my connection with the Tioga Road for all time. " (21) Construction progressed at an awesome rate. Nearly one-half mile of finished road was turned out by the 160 man crew for each day on the job. (22) The fall of '82 saw the road advance from Crocker's to as far as the present park boundary, about two miles. (21) On April 27, 1883 work was resumed "and it was carried forward without interruption or accident until finally completed September 4th, 1883." In 130 days the 56 1/4 mile stretch was completed at a cost of $61,095.22, or about $1,100 per mile. From the columns of the August 11 Homer Mining Index we learn of construction progress and methods. "The Great Sierra Wagon Road is rapidly approaching completion. Harry Medlicott's graders from this side have reached the upper end of Tuolumne Meadows, while Priest 's pick and shovel brigade from the other side are on Rocky Canyon Creek, leaving a gap between of little more than three miles, all of which is easy grading. Priest's powder gang, following the picks and shovels, reached Lake Tenaya Thursday and will skip the heavy blasting along the margin of the lake for the present and follow up to the Tuolumne River, after which one hundred blasters

John V. Ferretti will be put on to finish the threefourths of a mile along the lake. It is believed that freight wagons will reach Tioga by or before the end of the month. The construction of this road was a stupendous and costly undertaking and the Eastern capitalists, whose enterprise and public spirit the people of this county and coast are indebted for a great thoroughfare to hitherto inaccessible but rich and extensive region, deserve to be remembered with gratitude." According to one report (24) there were 90 white men and 250 Chinese in the employ of the company. Another alludes to 250 men (21) and a third to a 160 man crew of Chinese. We're certain that at least 35 Chinese were at work on the Tioga Road in 1883 as a receipt for their hospital bill, paid for by the Road company, which is now part of the Yosemite Museum collections (26). Pay rates were phenomenal: the Chinese received $1.20 per day, while the Caucasians $1.50. (25) The foreman, James Lumsden of Big Oak Flat, was most pleased when his wage was advanced from $1.75 to $2.00 per day in recognition of his making "changes" of his own accord which the surveyors afterwards said were more practical. In addition all hands were supplied with excellent board. (24) Soon after the Great Sierra Wagon Road was completed, "a big jollification was held in Sonora" with many prominent men of the day in attendance. (24) The road was built!

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1 Prior to 1915 no collection gates ever were set up t was it ever used for the purpose and the road was used frequently by hich it was built, Probably not. tourists, Army troopers and stockmen. cords survive to prove the point, Little mention is made of the physical It is known that no ore was ever condition of the road until 1894 when d out of the mines and special the Horner Mining Index informed its ment purchased for use in the readers, "A man who recently came herder tunnel never got beyond over the Great Sierra wagon road reFrancisco where it was sold at ports it to be in execrable condition. Ion after the mines had closed. It should be kept in tolerable condition jest's report of August 4, 1884, if the company wishes to hold it; but, clear from snow and being reas a matter of real fact, it should bed" leads us to believe at least long to the Government and be kept of the Great Sierra Silver Cornin prime order, as on eastern outlet to 's business was conducted over the Yosemite Park." (45) (43) The last mention of the However poor its surface, the Great 0d in company records is dated Sierra Wagon Road was being used.. October 1884, more than three One party remarked, "The road is very )[ the after cessation of operations at rough in places, but is not impassable. " IN mines. "The road is in very good They recommended a light wagon be olp,indition and will probably remain so used in attempting the route. (46) Owing the winter and spring. Cross Another group reported "fallen trees [' Khes have been put in all the way and washed-out roads had bothered us Bennettville to Crockers, and I many times. but in no case had t Miink $1,000 expended next year after done more damage to us than to shorts Ole snow is gone will put it in as good en our day 's journey by five or ten e shape as ever. " (44) miles." Their method of travel included t Although technically a toll route, unhitching the horses and transporting the wagon across "difficult" stretches with block and tackle attached to convenient trees. (47)

Book: The Old Tioga Road, About 1890 contains an excellent description of the road at the turn of the century.

"The grades vary from 0 to 10 percent and the width from 10 to 20 feet. The road, however, was skillfully laid and it may safely be said that none of it has a grade of only about 3 percent." It was "exceedingly well built, the bridges having fine stone abutments, and there is a particular well-built section of sea wall along the shore of Lake Tenaya." Most of the original surfacing was gone and the road was obstructed in numerous places by fallen trees. "It appears that no work in the way of maintenance has been done by the owner of the road for a number of years, though some slight work has been done by campers traveling over it." The commissioners estimated the cost of constructing a similar road to be $58,000, though the original outlay was found to be $61,095.22. Their final assessment was that the road was in fair condition, that its value was $57,090, that $2,000 would suffice to put the road in original condition and that the Federal Government should purchase the road as soon as practicable. (50)

In 1896 a bill authorizing purchase of toll roads within the park was considered by the House but did not get to the floor for a vote. (58) The next year the cost of repairing the "extremely out of repair" road was estimated at $10,000. (51) Two years later a bill was introduced in Congress to authorize surveys for a new road from Yosemite Valley to Mono Lake, which apparently duplicated the Tioga Road which was then considered impassible. (60) The Acting Superintendent in 1898 was of the opinion that the road was government property by default. "This is not a toll road and never has been; it has been abandoned by the builders for more than twenty years; if they ever had any rights they lost them by abandonment. The eastern half of the road is in such bad condition as to be hardly a good trail. I consider the Tioga Road the most important highway in the Park." (56)

By 1899 enough interest had been generated that the Army was directed to clear the road for a Congressional commission inspection. Their report contained much useful information.

In 1902 the Secretary of the Interior appointed a second committee to survey the Park's toll roads. They, like their predecessors, urged immediate government control of all park roads. (61) Superintendents' reports for the years following upheld the committee's views, with one exception—Major W. T. Littebrant in 1913, in a notable example of short-sightedness, felt that trails and mules would be sufficient for park administration for the foreseeable future! (62)

In 1911 the Sierra Club Bulletin, under the heading "Old Tioga Road to be Acquired," noted that "The Government brought suit...to condemn an unused toll road...to make it part of the new system of roads. (63)

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Army Troopers Patrolled the Tioga Road for 25 Years, Protecting Yosemite National Park. In 1888, C. N. Swift, as trustee, purchased the entire properties of the Great Sierra Consolidated Silver Company for $167,050. (15) For an additional $10 per share, Swift obtained the Tioga Road toll franchise from W. C. Priest, (31) who remained in charge of the road. (66) The mine properties and road were sold for taxes in 1895 to Rutherford N. Swift; and remained the property of his heirs until 1915. (67)

All during this period the firm of Wilson and Wilson handled the affairs of the road's owners. Through them we hear the "owner's side of the story."

One of the most telling comments about the condition of the road is contained in a 1912 letter from Major Rudolphus Forsythe, Acting Superintendent of the park, to the Secretary of the Interior. "Several wagons passed over the road last summer...but also last summer I had to order a gratuitous supply of rations to a destitute family whose members were moving by wagon across the Tioga Road from the east side by the Tioga Pass because their team became exhausted on account of the difficult terrain and their food supply gave out before they could get through. (64)

What of the owner's side of the story? Before answering we might well ask, as did Yosemite's acting superintendent in 1913, "who were the owners?" (65) At a Mono County sheriff's sale on the Western Slope of the Sierra Nevada..." (68) The battle is joined!

abandoned, but "we confess that they 38 miles in one day over the Tio (the owners) have been somewhat neRood. (74) glectful by reason of the slight travel With the suit of 1911 in progrt... upon the road." (66) It was the further depositions were mode. M attorney's opinion that the road would Crocker was in the fore sta g have been kept in repair had a road that " repair work (was done) in 19 been completed down the eastern side and the road opened as usual to tray of the Sierra. (59) " If and when that It has been opened and traveled

eastern portion is completed the ownteams (both heavy and light wagon ers intend to resume the collection of people on horse back and pedestria tolls." The law firm urged the United every year since its construction. States to purchase all the toll roads has never been closed to travel, t in the Park and was of the opinion that cept... when.. blocked by sna this would have already been done It is still in fair condition with the t "but for the extreme difficulty of inception of two or three places at La ducing Congress to spend money on Tenaya and Yosemite Creek..." () any new project, especially one which Swift's attorneys proclaimed ti necessitates a regular annual expendiconsiderable sums had been expend ture for maintenance." (69) on upkeep of the roads (though In answer to charges that since tolls documentation of the expenditu were not being collected the road bewas presently available) and that t longed to the government by default, franchise standards, i.e. a 100 foot u Allen Webster pointed out that the roadway, had been lawfully maintains owners had spent thousands of dollars They cited the fact that the count in repairs and that toll gates were not through which the road passed I' erected because of light travel. (70) always accepted the Company ' s t As the debate progressed others offerings, implying that all the fr( were brought in to testify on behalf chise conditions were being met. T of the road. Mrs. H. R. Crocker, whose reason advanced for non-collection home and place of business was tolls was that the Company did r Crocker 's Station, the eastern terminus receive enough in returns to keep of the road, commented in 1907 that man on as tollmaster. Their fir there was considerable travel over the opinion was that the United States h to the road pt aw road this season and "all are unaniannd Ifair purchase. (33)c Thebsuit u mous in its praise... Travelers had no never pressed to completion and I trouble in getting over the entire debate remained unresolved ur length with team and heavy wagon." 1915. She reported some repairs to the rood, Business Ventures including replacement of the Yosemite Soon after completion of the Gn Creek bridge which had been out for Sierra Wagon Road William C. Po eight years, by persons in her hire. (71) of Big Oak Flat, at the request of Later correspondence from Mrs. Directors of the Great Sierra Compo Crocker repeats her original points, was assigned the right to collect tl with the added suggestion that "someby the Counties of Mariposa, Tu thing should materialize towards its umne and Mono. Rates establish (the road 's) permanent repair." (72, 73) were : Freight teams with two horl In 1908 Andrew P. Dron found the $5; single horses, $1.50; passe road to Soda Springs in " excellent teams, each horse, $2.50; footmen, condition". He noted that two or three horse and rider, $2; pack animr bridges were out over small streams, $1.50; loose horses and cattle, 5 "but their want is not at all felt." All sheep and goats, $10c each. (29 of the fallen trees are out of the road congressman quoted the rates as w and... taken as a whole I consider it ing out to 3 1/2c per person per a better road as it is today without any comparing, favorably with the 3 1 work on it, than the Ward 's Ferry on the Big Oak Flat Road, 3c on road... to Groveland..." He made Coulterville and 2c on the Waw

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<!-- Page 13 -->. (30) No records exist of toll known names grace the Crocker regisues. The swift heirs, successors ter, among them John Muir, Stewart leest by W. C. N. Swift's purchase Edward White, Edwin Markham and ll franchise in 1888 for $10, Herbert Hoover. The resort was cons ) stated that though considerable sidered by many "the showplace of the _ s had been spent on upkeep of the road. ' Although sold by Widow Crockno tolls had ever been collected. er in 191O, the station continued to serve the Yosemite bound 'til 1920, Other enterprises were more profitwhen several of the buildings were •. Since the early 1880's H. R. moved and the rest allowed to decay. ker had operated "Crocker's Sierra (34) rt" stage stop on the Big Oak Flat Some ten miles northeast Jeremiah d, just west of the present park Hodgdon built, in 1879, Yosemite ' s ndary. Mr. Crocker and his young first and only two story log cabin. (34) with the help of ex-sea captain Unknown to Jeremiah, the cabin would n S. Crocker, provided excellent later house some of the builders of t rd, clean rooms and diverse enterthe Great Sierra Wagon Road, would ments to Chinese Camp and Yoprovide shelter for Army Troopers paite Stage Company passengers, trolling Yosemite National Park, (38) Ivote travellers, campers, and even and in the 1920 's become the center of ions from a nearby Miwok Rancha busy tourist stop on the Tioga Road. In 1931 the Aspen Valley Lodge Crocker's Station was construction complex included the lodge, a rooming dnuarters during the building of house, store, gasoline station, auto Great Sierra Wagon Road and repair garage, laundry, restaurant and r provided a comfortable stopping the old two story log homestead cabin e for those using the road for in use as a storehouse. (35) A Park iness and pleasure. Many well entrance station and ranger station y Western Portal, Crockers Station, 1901

Aspen Valley Resort, 1931. (Homestead Cabin, at left, now at Pioneer Yosemite History Center, We were located nearby. With realignment the assessable property. (35) Reloc of the Tioga Road in 1937, profits tion of the road and the tourist hiot dropped and closure of the facilities of the second world war brought t was assured when public use of the old operations at White Wolf to a star road was discontinued in World War still. After three years of very indiffi II. Private summer homes and a logent lessee proprietorship, the Yosem ging operation existed into the 1950s, Park and Curry Co., in 1952, w most of the land eventually becoming government purchase of the land a acquired for Park purposes and facilities, acquired the concess the homestead cabin moved to the rights, and the following year open Pioneer History Center at Wawona. the rejuvenated unit as one of t Next stop on the line for the eastHigh Sierra Camps. 1960-19 bound visitor was White Wolf, named saw the improvement, by the Nano! by the Meyer brothers after an Indian Park Service, of the public can chieftain whom they found camping ground and access road. there. Settlement at White Wolf probBetween White Wolf and Ten( ably began with crude shelters for the Lake, a distance of nearly 20 mil Meyer boys and their ranch hands. no accommodations have ever exist Little is known of early developments, though camping was, and is, permitted but in 1930 it was reported, "Mrs. in designated spots along the res Meyer is in charge of a believed-to-be On August 1, 1878 an enterprise well-paying resort." Twelve tents, Irishman and one-time Yosemite gal, a main building which housed a dining John L. Murphy, homesteaded t room, kitchen and small store, two meadows abutting the south end tourist cabins, a power plant, and the Tenaya Lake and a small portion of t ubiquitous gasoline station comprised north shore. Thirty days later

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nrea 7L DrOOR TIWf—TrUm Ir rc tUJTIC,3 YWrw WIC rrvr cn.caa.V 7..v... uolumne River; in 1882 o corresponto please, and that may have a more nt for the Bodie I) sI. Frrr Pros repiquant interest to persons to whom ported, "the lake is swarming with the shifts and devices of mountain life fish, some already two feet in length. " are matters of some novelty. " (42) Mr. Murphy was established! Murphy's hospice served as a stopIn 1881, Archie Leonard, destined ping place for the Great Sierra Wagon to become one of Yosemite 's first Road surveyors as well as H. L. Childs ' rangers, put on a ten-horse saddle Bennettville to Yosemite Valley teletrain between Yosemite and Lundy. phone line construction crew. (20) (39) Business must have been good Later visitors included Helen Hunt for Leonard and Murphy as numerous Jackson, John Muir and Galen Clark. articles proclaiming the virtues of the Nothing is known of the operation trip and its accommodations appeared from 1 890 to 1916 when the Desmond the Bodie and Lundy tabloids. One Park Company set up a tourist camp porter opined, " Lake Tenaya is deson the site of Murphy 's place. The YoIned to become a watering place of semite Park and Curry Co., Desmond's to..." (20) and Murphy 's is a place successors, closed the Tenaya opera- 'where good accommodations will be tions in 1938 in favor of a more isofound, where the scenery is particularly Fated location at May Lake, thus esGrand, picturesque and beautiful, and tablishing another of the High Sierra

trout are abundant." (40) Camps. (39) Another author commenting on Although Tuolumne Meadows had " where to go and what to do " gives us been touted as an excellent camping on idea of what accommodations were spot since Lt. Moore 's 1 852 visit, little like there. "The business of accommowas done to oblige visitors to the area. dating travelers at Tennayah has not Cabins were built in the 50s and 60s yet reached sufficient dimensions to by sheepmen using the meadows for warrant the establishment of a fully summer pasture. (38) John Lembert 's modernized hotel. Mr. Murphy has... reign as the "hermit of the Sierra" maintained a 'stopping place '... that extended over a period of about 10 will be found quite satisfactory to all years during which time he offered White Wolf, 1931

LAKE ELEANOR WHITE WOLF ASPEN;VALLEY TUOLUM MEADOWS TENAYA LAKE CRANE FLAT THE TIOGA ROAD YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA LEGE PARK J OU N DA RY GREAT SIERRA WAGON ROAD SECTIONS REBUILT 1956-1959 SECTION REBUILT

1958-1961

MAP SCALE IN MILES

Murphy's Cabin at Lake Tenaya, August 16, 1896 what hospitality and help he could to surveys for routes down the eastern the wayfarer and tourist. (42) Lembert escarpment of the Sierra had been homesteaded the Soda Springs promade. At first only horse trails over perty in 1885, (41) though he had the Mt. Warren divide and down spent his summers there since at least Bloody Canyon connected the Tioga 1882 and perhaps earlier. Hermit John mines with the Mono valley. In 1899 left the Meadows in 1890 after being the California Department of High snowbound and losing his profitable ways urged the building of an east angora goat herd. After Lembert's side link in the Tioga route "to make murder at El Portal in 1896 the proYosemite Valley, the high Sierras, and perty passed to his brother, who sold Lake Tahoe more attractive and acces the land to the Sierra Club in 1912. sible. " A bill, authorizing appropria (41) Parsons Memorial Lodge was tions for construction of the section built in 1915 and has provided a restwas passed by the California legisla ing spot for Sierra Club members to ture in 1897, but did not become law the present day. (39) because of a technical error. Highway Tuolumne Meadows Lodge was engineers recommended the Lee Vin opened a year later by the Desmond ing Creek route as the best and esti Park Company and is currently opermated construction costs for a 16 foot ated by the Yosemite Park and Curry roadbed at $30,000. (76) Co. In addition to the Lodge there is Monies were forthcoming in 1899 now a store, restaurant and service and the Tioga Pass - Lee Vining line station operated by the concessioner was selected. Construction began three plus National Park Service ranger years later. (77) By 1905 all but the stations and campgrounds and a small five miles east of the pass had been museum. For the first few years of finished. The cost — $39,000. One operation of the Tioga Road as a Park bid of $23,861 was received for the route, the Park entrance station was in remaining section but work was de the meadows; it has since been moved layed until an " understanding with to Tioga Pass. the owners of the Tioga Road proper, The East Side regarding their non-resumption of the Even before the Great Sierra Wagon collection of toll " could be reached Road was completed, suggestions and (78)

<!-- Page 18 -->, The Sierra Club Bulletin of 1909 declared, "The new State road from Mono Lake to Tioga Lake was completed last summer and is reported to be a monument to the skill of the State engineers. It has a maximum grade of seven per cent, and is a good road for automobiles. The old Tioga Road (not now available to autos)... should be repaired without delay, so as to afford one of the most wonderful trans-mountain trips in the world." (79) Maps in 1910 Yosemite National Park booklets show the Tioga route as a rough road to the east, despite the Park Superintendent's warning that "the road is in wretched condition."

In 1913 the California State engineer, asking if the Tioga Road was in condition for travel, noted that the east side road is "in excellent shape". Major Littebrant's reply was that "the Tioga Road through Yosemite National Park is impassable except for saddle animals." (81) (82) During 1939 and '40 the Lee Vining Road between Tioga Pass and Lake Honey was widened and realigned at a cost of $78,000. "The completion of this improvement is regarded locally as one of the highlights of the 80 years of man 's struggle against the barrier of the Sierra at this crossing. " (83) The State 's plans for the Lee Vining grade include realignment and widening. (84) Automobiles Arrive Prior to 1913, even if the Tioga Road had been passable, autos could not have been driven legally within the national park. On August 16, 1913 the first auto permit was issued by Ranger F. S. Townsley, the car drove into the Yosemite Valley via the Coulterville Road (the only one open to autos) and was promptly chained to a tree. (6, 85, 86) According to Townsley, auto travel began in earnest in 1914 despite the more than 60 separate regulations aimed at limiting vehicular traffic in the park. Not only was one-way traffic the rule, but strict schedules had to be met. Fines of 50 cents per minute were assessed the hapless driver who dawdled along the way. (86) Top speed permitted, on straight stretches only, was 10 miles per hour, with LeeVining Canyon and the LeeVining Grade, looking toward Mono Craters

Tuolumne Meadows, 1915, from a 1913 Pierce Arrow Touring Car, One of First to Travel the Tioga Road 6 m.p.h. as the limit where curves were evident. (87) In January 1915, Stephen T. Mather, an enthusiastic booster of auto travel in the National Parks, accepted the post of Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior. One of his first concerns in the new job was to make park travel easier. "A cash primer was called for to set the process off. Mather thought about this and had a familiar reaction. He hauled out his checkbook. For a curtain-raiser to his park's administration he wanted to make some noise — preferably in Yosemite, which had high hopes for 1915, California being set for two "international expositions. " Casting about for an idea, he remembered the Tioga Road, a broken-down east-west thoroughfare, fifty-six miles long (and privately owned) that bisected the park. Since the Tioga Road was the only potential automobile route across the 270-mile wall of mountain barriers from Walker Pass, back to Bakersfield, via Sonora Pass, south of Lake Tahoe, its resurrection would be both beneficial and widely acclaimed. Mather thought about all this and then began to show an inner turmoil, a characteristic mark of his approach to a weighty decision. He gave the impression of being excited and carbonated.

"His associates were startled, but when they learned what was gurgling in him, they politely pointed out that the government could not make repairs on a road it did not own, and even if it could, it would not. 'I'll buy the road, have it repaired myself, and donate it to the government,'" said Mather. They smiled. The United States of America is not a university or charity foundation. Giving things to the government was almost as suspect as making bank deposits to the account of a Cabinet officer or placing a bomb under a Senator's front porch Congress must examine and pass upon every gift. "All right," said Mather, "My motives are pure."

He had a special provision drafted for the Appropriations Committee authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to accept any donations of money, land, rights of way, etc., for the national park. That, he did not doubt for a moment, would do it. Fitzgerald surprised him. The Congressman, sure that only a black-hearted briber would want to donate something to the government, tore the provision up.

"Mather had to look for help to the California Senator James D. Phelan and to an old Chicago friend, Congressman William Kent, then of Kern field, California. The two Californians, with some difficulty, managed to wheedle Fitzgerald into relaxing far enough to approve a limited provision covering gifts to Yosemite, setting Mather free finally to go ahead on the Tioga Road, which, he learned, cost a purchase price of $15,500. He made up his mind to raise as much of this as he could by subscription and to contribute the balance himself." (88)

Calling upon his friends, Mather began to accumulate the purchase price. Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago Yose.tr

n as thro Th pi o st ki r was sen ld g00 0fdSon for F $ ranci 1,000; sco ted another $1,000, while the MoChamber of Commerce and ra Club collected about $6,000. her donated the balance. (88) then arranged for the Tuolumne my Surveyor to begin clearing of old road and asked William E. by, his friend and fellow Sierra bber, to purchase the road from Swift estate as Mather, being a ernment employee, was not in a ition to donate the road to the ted States. (89) Authorization to pt the road came from Congress arch 3, 1915 and formal title was sferred to the U.S. on April 10, 5 for a consideration of $10. (90) other next organized the first of famous "mountain trips", outings faned to convince the influential or (thy participants of the need for re and better National Parks. ert Shankland ' s description of the p's ride up the Lee Vining grade their way to the dedication of the a Road is a classic comment on t stretch of the highway. "Coming r the Lee Vining Road, they fol-. lowed an interesting rood — just a fraction more than one-car wide with an unfenced drop-off of as much as two thousand feet. Local men were at the wheels, and the one handling the open Studebaker that contained E. O. McCormick, Emerson Hough, and Horace Albright had not yet, though a native, become bored with the scenery. He would glance ahead briefly to gauge the curves, then rise from his seat, twist around, stare off over the grisly precipice into the distance, and, with a hand he kept free for the purpose, point out features of the landscape. McCormick, up front, was mute with terror. In the rear, safeside door open, Albright and Hough sat crouched to leap. Albright was trying to keep one hand on the open door and one foot on the running board and at the same time hold off Hough, who was clawing at him and hoarsely whispering over and over: "G d-- that scenery-loving cuss, G that scenery-loving cuss!" To their surprise, however, they made the top of the range. There Mather formally dedicated the Tioga Road to public use, breaking a cham- "FIRST" DEDICATION OF TIOGA ROAD - Stephen Mather is shown breaking the christening bottle the $15,000 rock representing the purchase price of the road. Those shown were at the dedication; to r. - Clyde Seavy, California State Board of Control; Horace Albright, Assistant Director, National Park Service; W. Gillette Scott, Inyo County auto enthusiast and road promoter; E. O. McCormick, Southern Pacific Railroad; Mather; Congressman F. H. Gillett; Chief Geographer Robert B. Marshall, U.S. Geological Survey; Dr. Guy P. Doyle, Bishop; Dr. J. S. McQueen, Inyo County; Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborne, American Museum of Natural History; Dr. Simmons, Sacramento.

pagne bottle fitted with Pacific Ocean Tioga Road, though conditions are water at a spot where it would flow from satisfactory and not as we wo both east and west. The night was like to have them. " spent camping with the Sierra Club at During the 1918 opening 12 Tuolumne Meadows, and the next pounds of powder was used to bl morning the party started on its final 150 trees off a five mile section of run, to the Yosemite Valley. It broke road. Later that season damage fr up there on Thursday, July 29. " (88) thunder storms was frequent and c. The 1915 report of the superintenly, nearly $6,000 being spent to lc dent of national parks noted that the the road passable. Tioga Road had been acquired, was beBy August of 1922 Sovulewski c ing rehabilitated this summer and was sidered the road in excellent conditi formally opened July 28. "When same However, severe storms that fall un has been put in shape it will be the all the work and soon it was evid most popular pass for transcontinental that the road was being destro tourists through the Sierra Nevada..." "faster than we could keep up (91) During the 1915 season 190 cars repairs." There was no question n entered the park via Tioga Pass and there must be realignment and rec the comment was made that a visitor struction. Preliminary plans were I to the park could now travel 260 miles in the late '20s, but the job would of road, at elevations ranging from be complete until 1961. Meanw 2,000 to 10,000 feet, for the $5.00 the road was in ever-increasing entrance fee. (92) Entrance stations were set up The following year 578 westbound Tuolumne Meadows and Aspen Val autos checked in at Tuolumne Meadin 1918. In the same year a Calif() ows. (93) After more than $30,000 Motorist article praised the road had been spent rehabilitating the old reproduced a map showing 20 per c mining road it became apparent that grades near May Lake. Top speed the route needed a thorough reconstraight stretches was 20 mph, struction, with some realignment, to reductions to 8 mph when ascend bring maintenance costs down to a and 12 mph when descending hills. (' reasonable level. Mather asked ConSteve Mather 's annual report gress for $75,000. (94) The money 1918 praised the road in no uncert not forthcoming, park officials began terms. "Again last summer did maintaining the road as best they Tioga Road amply justified its • could. chase and presentation to the.. Gabriel Sovulewski's Construction system. Again did it prove the n reports, 1916 to 1922 (95), helps us and popularity of a motor gateway re-create the tremendous task of keepthe upper wilderness... Fifty or si ing the undoubtedly decrepit road in automobiles a day traveled the Ti• shape for auto travel. In 1916 24 men Road last season " with many dri and 2 teams of horses were assigned making the complete trip to L. to the road which was " in many places Tahoe. "It will be noticed that badly washed... (with half mile secsemite National Park as a park, that tions)... almost destroyed by donwithout any special consideration gerous washouts." Yosemite Creek use of the Yosemite Valley, also se bridge was gone and was replaced by to be coming into its own. This a "permanent" structure. In addition good sign." (97) more than 30 trees were down across The Tioga Road gained popula the road between Tenaya Lake and throughout the 1920s. Each sum Tuolumne Meadows. By the end of the opening of the road was atte the season the roadway was placed " in by fish fries and celebrations with I. very good condition considering the dignitaries in attendance. (98) F state in which it was found in the about 1925 onward on intense inte spring..." The public speaks "very in earlier opening dates, mostly on highly of the park roods, and there part of businessmen from east of has been nothing but praise for the Sierra, began. Park Superintend

Bus Travel Over Tioga to Lake Tahoe Become Popular in the 1920s

Stephen T. Mather and W. B. Lewis studying Road Location in 1925. were cautious, replying that early openings were too costly when considered in terms of the price of snow removal and increased maintenance. (100) Newspaper and magazine ads of the day, as well as government produced leaflets, entreated every citizen to visit his national parks and especially to travel "the world 's greatest mountain tour through Yosemite to Lake Tahoe. " (99) The finest accommodations were available on the route as well as comfortable campsites and excellent trout streams. (101) Everything was not as advertised, however. "All motorists with camping outfits are obliged to undress completely and be fumigated for a full hour." Hoof and mouth disease had struck California and the foregoing applied to those heading into Nevada from points west. The circular to all park personnel continued, "This information should be given to those in quiring regarding conditions along th( road. Giving of this information bound to result in discouraging trove east of Tioga Pass! " (102) Another, not quite so personal foe tor was beginning to discourage travc over the Tioga Road. The nation highways were being improved an expanded at an amazing rate and th motoring public was becoming accu, tomed to smooth well paved thorougr fares with high gear grades and eat curves. The Tioga Road was not suc a route. It remained an all-dirt roc until 1937. It was as Gabriel Sovule\ ski put it, "only an old-fashioned woo road." Reconstruction As early as 1925 consideration ho been given to realignment and reco struction of the Tioga Road. In th( year Director Mather visited Yosemi! to walk-out suggested routes with Pa Superintendent Charles G. Thomser (103) In the years following varin( route were studied and rejected, wit the Park Service submitting each I detailed review by conservationi,, t engineers and other interested grout Among the consulting groups ve the Yosemite Advisory Board whc three members were imminently quul fied to pass judgement on the vario proposals. Chairman of the Bow Frederic Law Olmsted, whose fatl,ww the " Father of American Landsc'il Architecture," was instrumental in

setting aside of the Yosemite Gro was in his own right a world foil( landscape architect, an expert on par and park development and former (Ii ector of the California State Park ()I vey. (A prominent overlook on the n road has been called Olmsted Vis e The second member of the Board, [)l can McDuffie, had served as Chain, of the California State Parks Coon( was past president of the Sierra ( I and recipient of the Cornelius Any Pugsley medal for American Sc e and Historic Preservation. Proh John P. Buwalda, geologist and partmental chairman at California' stitute of Technology, was the mein, of the group perhaps best able to vise on the Yosemite landscape, hciv

n e considerable scientific study in h area. In 1932 a preliminary field survey vc s made and the tentative route rked and declared open for inspeca( n. Several field trips were made by rc crested groups and by 1935 there n. s general agreement, including the r 1currence of the Sierra Club (104), it the present route of the realigned Igo Road would be the one followed: a i c map.) J, Meanwhile, work had begun on the c tern and western sections. In 1932 c tracts were awarded for construc-;\ of the Tioga Pass to Fairview D. e section. Funds for the job, 50,000, were allocated from monies eived from San Francisco as ntal " for the Hetch Hetchy area.,, 6) Fifty thousand dollars from -„ same source was to be made avail- „. e for the Crane Flat to White Wolf Lion, with work to begin in the mg of 1935. (107) aving of the ll.6 mile stretch of new Tioga Road from Cathedral ek through Tuolumne Meadows to a Pass was completed in the fall of 1937 and for the first time in its history the one-time wagon road had a dustless section. (108) During 1938 the 21 mile McSwain Meadow (White Wolf intersection) to Cathedral Peak section of the unchanged bed of the Great Sierra Wagon Road was oiled for the first time, (109) and with the completion of 14.5 miles of new road between Crane Flat and McSwain Meadows on July 18, 1939, an era had ended. (110) Although nearly a quarter-century would elapse before the 21 mile central section of the old road was replaced, clouds of dust no longer obscured the vistas or irritated the adventuresome motorist. Clouds of a different sort appeared on the horizon. World War II brought to a halt the further development of the road. Lack of maintenance funds during wartime caused the closing to the public of the Aspen Valley section of the old road. A couple of "war stories" bear repeating. After the road was closed for the winter in 1942, a man with his wife and three children managed to plow his car through the drifts, after Yosemite Advisory Board, 1953, with Supt. John C. Preston I. to r., W. E. Colby, F. L. Olmsted, Mr. Preston, J. P. Buwalda

breaking the Tioga Pass gate. He was met by a ranger at Crane Flat and it was decided the best course of action for disobeying the road closure was to have the visitor return to the pass in his own car and repair the gate, a round-trip of 148 miles. "The visitor had intended to drive through the park without stopping, but he become so delighted with the trip back over the Tioga Road that he decided to stay in the park for several days longer. Ranger Givens, who accompanied the man to Tioga Pass, states that the man was a real lover of the mountains and that he enjoyed his punishment immensely. Not only was he taught respect for pork regulations, but it is certain that this punishment left nothing but good will for the Park Service in his mind. " (111) After a hiatus of more than 50 years, cattle again were driven over the Tioga Rood in 1943. Permission had been granted because rubber and gasoline shortages made truck transportation of the Aspen Valley herds an impossibility. (112) Post War Developments Following World War II travel to the parks resumed its upward trend and by 1950 use of the Tioga Road had increased more than 30 per cent above the pre-war level. Correspondence increased, too, both favoring and condemning the middle 21 miles of the Tioga route. While some feared damage to the park's scenic values would result if the route agreed upon in 1935 was built, many more feared the old road itself and worried about the more personal damage to themselves or their cars while negotiating the " horse-drawn" alignment of the remaining section of the Great Sierra Wagon Road. The latter point of view became dominant as the travel picture changed. Larger cars and increased use of house and camping trailers made the old road a nightmare for many drivers and passengers alike. The American Automobile Association warned, " It is not unusual to find people... unused to mountain roods, who just go to pieces, freeze of the wheel and park their cars in the middle of the road to wait for the Park Rar gers or a kindly motorist to drive the cars the rest of the way." (115) Ar such was the none too happy pictul on many a crowded summer day. The general tenor of the many con plaints being received was that tF road was not only frightening to drit but was completely unsafe, a trip ov it being tantamount to committing sL cide. The facts do not bear this out. actuality accidents on the old 21 mi section were so few that "a statistic analysis is all but impossible. 0 records are not complete for the ea days of use, but it is believed that lives have been lost on the narr' highway since automobile travel initiated in 1915." The primary pr. 'ems were road jams on steep slot due to vapor lock, "dented fende house-trailers caught between tre mechanical failures and the overhe. ing of many people 's tempers when speed of 20 miles per hour was all to their experience on a narrow moi tain highway." (116) Other complaints were more r. sonable and to the point. "While • fectly safe (since one must drive slowly), it imposes undue anxiety the driver. " (113) " I feel this road. unsafe for inexperienced driver (114) An experienced driver sum up the general feeling against the r( thusly, "These 21 miles are the m exasperating I have ever driven. I personally guarantee there isn 't trickier road anywhere. It is a gc deal like a roller coaster, only rougl But if your car 's in good shape you are confident of your driving sk if you are looking for an adventur• route and breathtaking scenery, the no better place to find them than al. the Tioga Pass Road. " (115) If the Tioga Road was to adequu serve the public it needed immedr improvement. Although the roe, had been long approved, World Wa delayed action and considerable cussion was to ensue before cons' tion began. During the late 1940s and '50s, a series of alternate routes suggested by individuals and conso tion groups. One plan, the 'high-I

via Ten Lakes and the north and lopes of Mt. Hoffmann was supI by the Sierra Club. The Park e again sought the advice of ost experts in the Field. William E. Colby, an esteemed San ncisco lawyer, noted conservationist Sierra Club officer, in concert with low Yosemite Advisory Board memJ. P. Buwalda and Duncan Mcffie replied, "This is a subject to ch the Yosemite Advisory Board given very careful consideration a long period of years. The proI to route the road north of Polly e is, in our opinion, a grave mis-, because it would intrude a road an area that is now and will rewilderness in character if the is not built." The Board endorsed Park Service's original plan ght. ccordingly, it was determined that 21 mile central section of the a Road would follow the route as sed by the Service and as strongdorsed by the Yosemite Advisory. There remained, however, the tion of standards—what would be most appropriate construction ards for the new central section who would be the best qualified n to undertake this study? Direcirth was able to secure the servof the country's most outstanding rity in this field in the person of r L. Huber. Mr. Huber was not o noted consulting engineer and resident of the American Society it Engineers, but a nationally ized authority in the field of ation. He was a former presiof the Sierra Club and present an of the National Parks AdBoard. Mr. Huber had often called to advise State and Federal les contemplating construction esthetic considerations were innt. r field and office studies Mr. advised, " I feel that the Tioga d is and must remain essenpark road. For this purpose I r the 20 foot width of pavebe satisfactory, i e,, two 10 th travel lanes. For the "SecThrough Fills," I would atom• mend that the 3 '0" shoulder on either side of the pavement be widened to 4'00". I note that this is to be a stabilized base native grass shoulder." I hope this specification will be retained with insistence ' otherwise, shoulders are soon coated and from the motorists' viewpoint look the same as pavement; thus we have in effect a 24 foot pavement without shoulders and once the motorist is over the edge he is often in trouble." He approved the Park Service standards on the remainder of the road, i.e., 2 foot shoulders. (117) These recommendations were accepted by National Park Service and Bureau of Public Roads officials and were incorporated in the final road plans. (119) Actual construction began in 1957, with contracts let that year for clearing and grading 6 miles on the west end of the 21 mile section and 4.5 miles of the eastermost portion. (121) At that time the total cost of re-doing the 21 mile section was estimated at $4,658,000. (120) Preservation of scenic values was uppermost in the minds of all connected with the project. If slight realignment would save on unusual natural feature — an ancient juniper, a Iodgepole pine grove or glacial erratic boulder — the change was usually made. (1.21) At this time Director Wirth pointed out, "There were changes made in the plans for the Tioga Road which took into consideration several of the suggestions made by the conservation people... I think the final decision was a good decision which took into consideration the many problems confronting us. No road ever reconstructed in the National Parks has had the detailed study and consideration that has been given to the Tioga Road. The route and standards were under intense study for 31 years. " (122) (123) Associate Director E. T. Scoyen summed up, "When the debris of construction operations is cleaned up and the project fully completed, I am sure there will be virtually unanimous approval of this road which is designed to present to the motoring public a sample of high Sierra pork wonder-

Clouds Rest and Half Dome from Olmsted View land... I am sure that hundreds of thousands in future years will be thankful for this opportunity to receive enjoyment and inspiration from superlative scenery. " (125) During the winter with construction halted, plans were completed and bids were let and accepted for the remaining 10 miles of the 21 mile section. (118) The full 21 mile central section was completed and officially opened to the public on June 24, 1961. The cost was $5,491,000. The cost of the western and eastern sections was $1,450,000, or a total cost of $6,941,000 for the 46 miles from Crane Flat to Tioga Pass. The Tioga Road Today The Tioga Road today is the most scenic route in all California and one of the most outstanding park roads in the entire National Park System. It has been carefully designed and built to display the dramatic park values of the Sierra Nevada. The road is the highest trans-Sierra crossing with an elevation of 6,192 feet at Crane Flat and reaching 9,945 feet 46 miles later at Tioga Pass. It is designed for leisure travel (commercial trucking is not

permitted), with numerous turnor and overlooks where the park visit may stop in safety to enjoy the supe scenery. At each of these vista poin the visitor will find interpretive sic) which introduce and acquaint him wi that which he views. The interprets texts, which have been carefully pr pared by the park's naturalist sta' have met a hearty welcome from Pa visitors. In some instances short to nature trails lead from the vista poir to give the visitor a further opportun to explore nature. Sections of the old Tioga Road ho been retained "as is" for those lour of the old west who like to get ow, from the main route. One such sects, leaves the new road just east of tl White Wolf intersection and win ' and twists five miles down to Yosem Creek where the visitor will find tl same primitive quality campgrour which has served travelers on the c, Tioga Road since it was first construe ed. An additional two mile section the old road climbs via Snow Flat the May Lake Trail Junction. Oth shorter sections still serve the prirr five campgrounds along the old roo all of which have been retained.

YOSEMITE

hat has the visitor 's reaction been e new rood? It has been extremely table considering the short time new road has been available. Exsions such as " Now you can see ething, " "What a relief, " " It 's a sure to drive it," are common. The test number of visitor bouquets probably received on the nume -ous s and turnouts with their interprefacilities which help the visitor to rstand and appreciate the natural ures and Park values.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Sierra Club Bulletin Yosemite Nature Notes published by Yosemite tural History Association, (YNHA). Doily Free Press, Bodie Rept—Annual Reports of Supts and Acting Supts of Yosemite Nat'l Park. her sources are in Museum or Administrative files, Yosemite N.P. I. Muir, John, The Mountains of California, 1894, The Century Co., N.Y. ). Fitzwater to author, 1960. 7 Davis, James T., Trade Routes and E o, onth ExJiang,. Anteing the Indians of California, U. ~of Calif. Archaeological Survey, 1961.

Farquhar, F. P., Walker 's Discovery of Yosemite,

1942, SCB 27(4) :35-49.

I' I Russell C. P., ioo Years In to,,,,,t,', 1959,

YNHA.

• Brockman, C. F., Development of Tronsportoll bon to Yosemite, Part I, 1943, 22(6) :49-56

Ibid. Part II, YNN, 22'(7) :57-63. i One of several Interpretive Signs at Olmsted View. 8. Farquhar, F. P., Lee Vining,

13(1) :83-85. 9. Bunnell, L. H., lb,ru,,,, of the You•nu, G. W. Gerlicher, Los Angeles. 9a. Interview with T. J. Hodgdon by C. P. 1927. 10. Farquhar, F. P., Place Names of tl Sierra, 1925, SCB, 12 :126-247. ll. Ms., Elmira Parker, no date. 12. Brockman, C. F., Port III, YNN, 22(1 13. Forquhar, F. P., Exploration of the Sierr 1925, Calif. Hist. Soc., S.F. 14. Ms. "Trip across Yosemite in 1869," 15. Hubbard, D. H., Ghost Mines of Yosnni. Awoni Press, Fresno. 15a. Russell, C. P., Early Mining Excitement,

YOSEMITE, 1928, SCB, 13(1) :40-53.

16. V. Gondos, Jr., to H. L. Bill, I Nov. I 17. Mammoth City Herald, 3 Sept. 1879. 18. Hubbard, Fran, Road to Rusting Drean

YNN, 34(7) :86-91.

19. DFP, 20 July, 1882. 20. DFP, 18 August 1882. 21. Ferretti, J. V., Surveying the Tioga Ro,

YNN, 27(9) :109-112.

22. Report of C. E. Barney, Mining Enginee Co., to Thos Bennett, Jr., President, Gre Consolidated Silver Co., 1 Nov. 1883. 23. Thos. Bennett, Jr., Statement B., Rel the Great Sierra properties, 15 Feb. 18 24. Ms., Celia Crocker Thompson, no date. 25. Homer Mining Index, 23 June 1883. 26. F. B. Morris to Son Sing Wo (Sun ll Aug. 1883. 27. Lord, R. F., Report to Great Sierra Co. 1881. 28. DFP, 22 April 1882. 29. Fresno Err, ll Aug. 1958. 30. Hoke Smith to John F. Lacey, 5 Man 31. Tuolumne County Deeds, Vol. 24, p. 32. Bill of Complaint, 9th Circuit Court, Calif., (1912 ?). 33. Wilson and Wilson to 9th Circuit (1912 ?). 34. Schlichtmann and Paden, Big Oak Flat Yore,oitr,

1959, YNHA.

35. Private Lands Survey, Y.N.P., Aug. 1931 36. Ms., unsigned and undated. 37. DFP, 1 August 1878.

38. Uhte, R. F., Yosemite's Pioneer Cabins, 1956,

YNN 35(9) :134-143.

39. Ibid No. 5. 40. DFP, 26 July 1882. 41. !bid, No. 10. 42. Stornoway, L., wraith; Where !o Go and What to Da., San Francisco, 1888. 43. Report No. 79, Great Sierra Consolidated Silver Co., 4 Aug, 1884. 44. C. E. Barney to W. C. N. Swift, 19 Oct. 1884. 45. Homer Mining Index, 2 June 1894. 46. Anon., Wagon Trips to the Sierra, 1901, SCB, 3:210-217. 47. Hutchinson, J. S. Round About Mt. Dario,

1901, SCB, 3 :3191328.

48. Supt. Report 1891, 49. Supt. Report 1895. 50. Supt. Report 1896. 51. Supt. Report 1897. 52. Supt. Report 1905. 53. Ref. deleted. 54. J. T. McLean to Wilson and Wilson, 9 April 1908. 55. Report of the Yosemite Park Commission, Dec. 1904. 56. Supt. Report 1898. 57. Bill, 56th Congress, 2nd Session, 1 March 1901. 58. S. 3064, 19 May 1896. 59. Report of the Commission on Roads in Yosemite N.P., 8 Feb. 1900. 60. Ise, J., Our National Park Policy, 1961, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore. 61. Senate Report 863, 5 May 1896. 62. W. L. Littebrant to Sec'y of Interior, 8 July 1913. 63. Anon., Old Tioga Road to be Acquired, 1911,

SCB, 8 :132.

64. Maj. Forsyth to Sec 'y of Interior, 16 April 1912. 65. W. F. McClure to W. T. Littebrant, 15 July 1913. 66. Wilson and Wilson to Col. S. B. N. Young, 27 Oct. 1896. 67. C. C. Thompson to D. E. McHenry, 6 Feb. 1954. 68. Affidavit of W. C Priest to Wilson and Wilson, 22 Oct. 1892. 69. Wilson and Wilson to Maj. H. M. Chittenden, 24 Aug. 1904. 70. Allen Webster to Frank Pierce, 12 Dec. 1907. 71. Mrs. H. R. Crocker to Maj. Benson, 7 Sept. 1907. 72. Mrs. H. R. Crocker to Maj. Berson, 28 Sept. 1907. 73. Ibid No. 72. 74. A. P. Dron to Mrs. Crocker, 25 Aug. 1908. 75. Deposition, State of Calif., Co. of Son Joaquin, May Hall Crocker, Jan. 1912. 76. Biennial report Dept. of Highways, Sacramento, 1899. 77. Supt. Report 1907. 78. Biennial report Dept. of Highways, Sacramento, 1905. 79. Anon., Mono-Tioga Highway, 1909, SCB, 7 :195. 80. Supt. Report 1910. 81. Maj. Littebrant to W. F. McClure, 2 June 1913. 82. Maj. Littebrant to W. F. McClure, 28 June 1911 83. Sonley, J. N., Tioga Pass, 1941, Calif. Highways and Public Works, 19(7):4-7. 84. E. R. Foley to John C. Preston, 7 Feb. 1961. 85. Supt. Report 1913. 86. Ms., Townsley, F. S., "The First Automobile Yosemite", I Dec. 1941. 87. Sargent, Shirley, The Old Big Oak Flat Road

1950, YNN, 29(7) :68-71.

88. Shankland, Robert, Stephen Mather of the National Parks. Copyright 1951, 1954. by Alfred A. Knopf Inc., N.Y. 89. W. E. Colby to K. A. Trexler, 17 May 1961. 90. J. B. Wosky to Director, NPS, 23 Jan. 1936. 91. Report of the General Supt. and Landscape Engineer of NPS to Sec'y of Interior, Washington, D.C., 1950. 92. Supt. Report 1915. 93. Mather, S. T., National Parks - The Federal Policy, Past and Future, 1916, SCB, 10:97-109. 94. Supt. Report 1916. 95. Ms., Sovulewski Construction Reports, 1916 1922. 96. The California Motorist, June 1918. 97. Annual Report, Director of National Park Si vice, 1918. 98. Tioga Road File, Yos. Nat'l Park, 1920, 1938. 99. Yosemite Transportation System brochure, 1926. 100. W. B. Lewis to S. T. Mather, 28 June 1927. 101. Hall, Ansel F., Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite, 1917. 102. Circular Letter from W. B. Lewis, 4 June 1928. 103. Supt. Report 1925. 104. W. L. Huber to C. G. Thomson, 30 Jan. 1913 105. Regional Director, NPS Region 4, to Direct NPS 19 Nov. 1958. 106. Supt. Report, 1932. 107. Supt. Report, 1933. 108. Supt. Report, 1938. 109. Park Engineer to author, 1961. 110. Supt. Report, 1940. 111. Supt. Yosemite to Director NPS, 14 Nov. 1942 112. F. A. Kittredge to C. D. Boothe, 14 June 1943 113. G. Halliburton to Chief Ranger YNP, 10 Sept. 1958. 114. V. M. Frasier to Supt. of Parks, Washington, D.C., 12 Sept. 1948. 115. Travel News Bulletin No. 8, 16 May, 1950 116. John C. Preston to G. Ballis, 20 July, 1954. 117. W. L. Huber to C. L. Wirth, 4 June 1956. 118. Ms., Excerpts from Files re Tioga Road Controversy, 24 Nov. 1958. 119. Statement of John C. Preston to NPS Region Four Conference, Death Valley Nat'l Monument, June 1959. 120. NPS Information Service release, 10 July 1957 121. Tioga Road File, Yosemite NP, 1957, 1958 122. Conrad L. Wirth to Pauline Dyer, 3 Oct. 1957 123. Statement of Director NPS before Sierra C.I. Officials SF, 24 Nov. 1958. 124. Fresno Bee, 4 Jan. 1959. PHOTO CREDITS: Pages 30, 33, 34: D. H. Hubbard, NPS; 35, 41: C. C. Thompson; 44-45: John Anderson, NPS; 47: R. H. Anderson, NPS; 48: F. W. Frost; H. M. Albright; 53: R. N. McIntyre, NPS; 56: K. A. Trexler, NPS; 42, 43: NPS; 36, 37, 39; 51; 52: unknown.

TIOGA ROAD

Open Close No. Autos Over Pass* July 28 ? Approx350 July 14 October 2

July 20 November 2 1,442 July 6 ? 1,792 July (latter part) November ? 1,955 July (prior to 5th) November 8 1,821 July 14 ? 2,549 ? ? 2,297 July 5 November ? 3,426 May 29 October ? 3,272 June 30 October (late) 7,589 June 5 ? ll,776 ? ? 10,115 June 14 ? 14,265 June 5 December 9 13,292 June 17 November 14 13,571 May 18 November 13 18,674 June 28 November 30 10,955 June 22 November 28 ll,111 May 10 November 15 14,618 June 17 November 2 14,030 June 19 December 14 15,818 June 18 November ll 15,554 July 6 October 30 12,788 May 8 December 10 15,239 June 8 November 3 15,895 June 20 October 20 17,804 June 27 November 3 8,090 June 26 November 19 5,432 June 26 October 31 4,476 June 23 October 29 14,738 June 8 November 8 33,749 May 24 November 1 45,671 June 10 November 27 41,545 May 28 November 9 48,965 May 20 October 26 46,851 May 26 October 23 54,662 June 21 November 13 56,162 May 23 November 14 65,213 May 26 November 14 63,758 May 28 November 13 59,416 June 16 October 23 71,464 May 25 November 2 81,881 June 22 November 14 68,918 May 13 December 13 84,664 May 21 November 3 91,618 Opened on April 21, closed a.m. 22 April Reopened on 26 April bind plus Westbound