The Yosemite
by John Muir
1912
Page 236
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Travel of the late years has been rapidly increasing, especially after the
establishment, by Act of Congress in 1890, of the Yosemite National Park
and the recession in 1905 of the original reservation to the Federal
Government by the State. The greatest increase, of course, was caused by
the construction of the Yosemite Valley railroad from Merced to the border
of the Park, eight miles below the Valley.
It is eighty miles long, and the entire distance, except the first twenty-
four miles from the town of Merced, is built through the precipitous
Merced River Canon. The roadbed was virtually blasted out of the solid
rock for the entire distance in the canon. Work was begun in September,
1905, and the first train entered El Portal, the terminus, April 15, 1907.
Many miles of the road cost as much as $100,000 per mile. Its business has
increased from 4000 tourists in the first year it was operated to 15,000 in
1910.
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