May 21, 1906
Merced Evening Sun
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Merced Welcomes
Opening of the
Yosemite Railroad
The story of the inception and finally the construction of the Yosemite
Valley Railroad is a very interesting one, and when passengers on today's
initial train to Merced Falls glide on the rails past Snelling and past old
landmarks on the Merced River, which have thus far only known the
"coach and four" as the common carrier, his mind may revert back over a
stirring series of events which preceded the opening of the road and made
it possible.
A railroad to Yosemite! How often have we speculated on the realization
of that dream. And today the train starts. True, the destination of the train
is not Yosemite, but it is going to Merced Falls, and when October rolls
around, we expect the train to take us right up in the Sierra heights - up to
the park line - almost in the shadow of the great valley itself.
History of Yosemite Roads.
The lure of a Yosemite railroad has attracted several groups of
capitalists during the dozen or more years past, and a number of times has
the line been beautifully worked out on paper. The idea of a railroad up
the Merced River canyon to the valley, however, was proceeded by a
serious and nearly successful attempt to have the State build a free wagon
road up the river to ?? one wonder.
Captain A. H. Ward, the Alameda mining man, who owns big properties
inside the Yosemite National Park, was the chief promoter of the free
wagon road idea, who wanted it in connection with his proposed power
plants on the river for mining purposes. This agitation led up to the
appointment by Congress of the Mansfield Commission in 1899 to visit the
scene and report on the practicability of the free wagon road. That was
when Mr. N. C. Ray, chief engineer of the Yosemite Valley Railroad
Company, became interested in the matter of obtaining easier access to the
valley up the river canyon. Mr. Ray was a resident of Coulterville at that
time, being the consulting engineer for the Merced Gold Mining Company
at that point, and the Merced Board of Trade appointed him their agent to
appear before the Mansfield Commission and urge the feasibility and
wisdom of going ahead with the project.
N. C. Ray Entered Field.
In 1900 Mr. Ray was elected to the California Legislature, from the
Coulterville district, and in that year the Legislature, for the third time,
appropriated $50,000 to build the free Yosemite wagon road, and Governor
Gage vetoed the bill. Captain Ward was still persistent in his scheme for a
free wagon road and the development of electric power, and he interested
other Alameda County men of affairs in the idea. Thomas Prather, the
Oakland banker, became interested, and one night, in 1902 telephoned
from Oakland to Ray in Coulterville, "Can you build a railroad up the
Merced River canyon to Yosemite?" "I can," responded Ray. The next day
Ray was closeted with Prather in Oakland, and the idea of a Yosemite
railroad took definite form and began to crystallize.
The Prospective Roads.
But let us here digress and recite the previous and unsuccessful
undertakings in this line. The first actual survey for a Yosemite railroad up
the river canyon was made in 1894 by Mortimer McRoberts of Chicago,
representing John R. Walkup and others, also of Chicago. Nothing came of it,
and the maps, etc., were sold to Albert Stetson of San Francisco, son of John
Stetson of the North Shore. Young Stetson prepared to finance the
enterprise, and Mr. Bullock, who later started the Sierra railway, was to
build the road. Stetson's tragic death by suicide put an end to these
negotiations, and nothing more was heard of the Yosemite railway until W.
H. H. Hart, formerly Attorney General of the State, organized the California
Midland. This road was built on paper from San Francisco to Fresno, with a
branch of up to the Minnaret mining district of Madera County and another
branch up the Merced River canyon to Yosemite. The surveys up the river
canyon were made by Engineer Dexter, whose work was followed to some
extent by Mr. Ray. The California Midland "died 'a bornin," and now comes
the story of the men who backed up their ideas with actual work and coin,
and made it possible for this train today to get under steam with an "all
aboard for Merced Falls."
Mr. Ray "Made Good."
Thomas Prather, W. W. Garthwaite and Edison Adams, all Oakland
bankers, formed a syndicate to promote the enterprise and surveys
started. When the survey was completed, Prather and his associates
concluded that Mr. Ray had "made good" on his railroad proposition, and
accordingly the Yosemite Valley Railroad Company was incorporated in
December 1902. Then the task turned from surveying to that of lobbying
among the lawmakers at Washington.
The Washington Fight
The government wouldn't construe any of its laws so as to permit any
railroad to enter the National Park. That stopped the railroad twenty-five
miles from the Sentinel Hotel in the valley. Colonel John P. Irish and Mr.
Ray spent the winter of 1902-3 in Washington, trying to get some such
construction of the existing laws, and failed. They found they couldn't cross
the park, so it became necessary to move the park.
In the fall of 1903, Congressman Needham introduced a bill in the
House to change the park boundaries so as to permit the railroad to build
closer to the valley. Two or three commissions came to examine the
ground. The House committee favorably reported the bill, and there it died.
That was in the spring of 1904. In the fall of that year, Congressman
Gillette introduced a similar bill to change the park boundaries. That bill
passed both houses in December, 1904, but never reached the President,
notwithstanding the fact that he wrote a veto message to Needham - to the
effect that the bill was objectionable because some big trees were cut out
of the park, or something of that kind.
When Congress reconvened, after the holiday recess, Gillette
reintroduced the same bill, with the boundaries changed to conform to
those recommended by the United States Engineering Commission,
commonly known as the Major Chittenden Commission. At the same time
Senator Perkins introduced the same bill in the Upper House.
A Bitter Contest.
That bill brought on one of the hottest fights of the session. The citizens
of Fresno (in the interest of their proposed road to Yosemite) and the
Huntington electric interests of California, and all the attorneys of the
Southern Pacific, were arrayed in bitter hostility to the bill. Congressman
Needham and Senator Bard, who had been relied on to support the bill, fell
down. Needham explained that his obligation to Fresno, which at the past
election had supported him financially and with with votes, was greater
than his obligation to Merced, which had gone against him. Bart was also
wedded to the Fresno interests. Finally, the measure was taken up at a
Cabinet meeting and adopted as an administration measure. Credit for the
final passage of the bill belongs largely to Congressman Gillette, who stood
loyally by the bill, and to Senators Perkins and Kittredge of South Dakota,
who had charge of the bill in the Senate.
The bill passed in February, 1905, and was signed by the President, but
it was the following September before the permit was secured from the
government to go upon the land in the forest reservation. (It should be
borne in mind that the section sliced out of the park was added to the
Forest Reserve.) This permit was secured in September of last year, and
two weeks later they were digging dirt on the Yosemite Valley Railroad
grade.
Features of the Road.
The railroad, when completed, will be eighty miles in length, and with
the exception of twelve miles after leaving Merced, follows the course of
the Merced River. It runs north from Merced to the river, thence
northeasterly to a point near Coulterville, and then in a general easterly
direction to the terminus at the park line, which is four miles below the
Cascades, or in other words, four miles from the entrance to the valley. The
line is completed to Merced Falls, and the expectation is that October will
mark the "driving of the last spike." The highest elevation reached is 2,200
feet, and the maximum grade is one per cent, or fifty-three feet to the
mile.
The road will cost something under $3,000,000, bonds having been
floated to that amount. Construction was begun in September, 1905, and
will probably be completed in October, 1906 - thirteen months' time. The
average number of men employed under Contractor James H. O'Brien has
been 1,700 or 1,800. A quarter of a million ties will be used, and 10,000
tons of rails. Already over a million pounds of powder has been used in
blasting. Seventy-five per cent of the grading has been completed, and all
of the construction material is on hand.
The Men "Behind the Guns."
The big stockholder in the railroad is President Frank G. Drum,
representing the James B. Haggin interests, the other stockholders are N. D.
Rideout of the Mercantile Trust Company of San Francisco, Dr. Harry Tevis,
William H. Crocker, Henry T. Scott, Thomas Prather and W. W. Garthwaite.
These gentlemen constitute the board of directors. N.C. Ray is the Chief
Engineer, and 0. W. Lehmer is the traffic manage.
*****
The road is remarkable for its numerous features that will delight the
tourists who visit Yosemite. As it winds its way up the canyon of the
Merced, the traveler's eye will be greeted by an ever - changing panorama
of scenes embracing the forest, mountains and beautiful river. A trip over
the road will be a rare treat, and combined with the climax, the beautiful
Yosemite itself, it will be a trip unsurpassed in scenic beauty and interest.
The Sun presents in this issue a few pictures of scenes along the route
which will afford some idea of the scenic features. We were unable,
however, to get photographs much beyond Merced Falls. In a later issue
we will present half-tone engravings of some of the beauty spots of the
road higher in the Sierras.
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