Historic American Engineering Record

“ McLean received an exclusive franchise from the Yosemite Board of Commissioners to extend his toll road from Coulterville to Yosemite Valley . The proposed new road alarmed the Tuolumne County interests, who saw that the competing road would decimate their tourist trade at a time at which their mines, the basis of the county's economy, were declining. No traveler would want to take a road that ended at the top of a cliff when an alternate route existed, and their lucrative tolls would be lost. ”

“ Automobiles were banned from Yosemite National Park in 1907 by Acting Superintendent H. C. Benson, and it was not until 16 September 1914 that they were readmitted on the Big Oak Flat Road. The first checking station was erected at Crane Flat, and in 1915 was supplemented by new ones at Gentry's and at the foot of El Capitan. Cars were permitted to run uphill or downhill only at stated intervals. The speed limit was at first 10 miles an hour, but this proved too great for "the Zigzag," and the speed was soon reduced to 6 miles per hour over this section. ”

“ From the Tioga Road, the old road is closed again to motor vehicles, but can be followed as foot trail northwest to Crane Flat. Near Crane Flat, the road is open to northbound traffic for 5.8 miles through the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias to Hodgdon Meadow and the Big Oak Flat Entrance. Many other traces of the old road can be followed outside the park, including the vertiginous Old Priest Grade above Moccasin Creek.
Most of the old roadway is in fair condition, though abandoned sections have been eroded severely at crossings of streams and their branches. ”

“ Nevertheless, they are a decided factor in enabling us to enjoy the wonderful views of mountain and valley that present themselves to our eager eyes as we slowly climb the steep ascent. We are sure that we see many vistas quite equal to the view from the much-vaunted Inspiration Point, but they are not so famous because they are less accessible. ”

“ Something has pegged out however, and the Chinese Camp Yo Semite Turnpike does not reach the valley. For the last twenty-five or thirty miles of the road, where a road is most needed, there is no road, only a trail, toll for horse and rider, one dollar... ”

“ That year, a survey of a new route was from Crane Flat to the park boundary was made by E. E. Newell and W. O. Tufts. However, no construction ensued from this project. In May 1924, Yosemite National Park Superintendent Washington B. Lewis reported that planning for the relocation of the road was again underway. He warned that part of the route passed through patented land holdings, and urged that buffer through the commercial timber tracts be acquired to protect the scenery. He soon began negotiating for a 60' right-of-way for the new road. ”

“ Work crews under the direction of George E. Sprague, company Secretary and a surveyor by trade, fashioned a new trail down the cliff-side from Gentry's. The route was so steep that Sprague sometimes had to lower his chainman on a windlass in order to take his readings. [11] Road foreman Dan Newhall had twenty men at work on construction by fall. The new right-of-way was constructed suspiciously like a road, with wide turns and switchbacks. The Sonora Union Democrat commented on the deceptive tactic:
Dan is merely building a horse trail but the picks may slip and widen it out to a wagon road. ”

“ Considerable progress was made at the same time on the construction of the road itself, but not without human cost; Ernest Messien, a construction, worker fell on the job and died a little later from complications. By this point, the stone retaining walls from Wildcat Creek to the Valley were complete, and stone was being cut for the guard walls which would border the road. Sample sections of the guard wall were built in November. [48]
Work crews on the long tunnel passed the soft rock area in October 1937 and began to make much better progress. ”

“ Cut stone blocks were also placed on the arch rings of the two lower tunnels. This stone was taken from a large boulder on the Coulterville Road by the contractor, the Union Granite Company of Rocklin, California. [50] The final construction report gives some details of their construction:
Full size wooden templates were built for the required arch ring stones before cutting stone for the tunnels was started...in general the stones were blasted into slabs and cut, with plugs and feathers, roughly to the desired size. ”

“ Cars were allowed to proceed northbound on even hours and inbound on odd hours. A ranger at the station would note the car's license number and time of departure (to check speed limits) on the permit, then would telephone the next station. ”

“ Leavitt, Acting Superintendent's Monthly Report, February 1929, 2. ↑ ⁠ Ibid.; "Mather Tells Why Oak Flat Work Delayed," Stockton Record, 2 April 1928, 1, 26. ↑ ⁠ Linda Wedel Greene and James B. Snyder, National Park Service historians, National Register of Historic Places nomination for the New Big Oak Flat Road, March 1989, Sec. 8, 2; "Big Oak Flat Road Plans Taken to Washington," undated clipping from Stockton Record, Yosemite Research Library; J. W. Emmert, Acting Superintendent's Monthly Report, April 1934, 8. ↑ ⁠ Thomson, Superintendent's Monthly Report, January 1935, 8 ”