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The Development Of The Central Valley Transportation Route In California To 1920

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The Development Of The Central Valley Transportation Route In California To 1920

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Content This d isserta tio n has been 65-10, 093
m icrofilm ed exactly as received
JENSEN, Jam es M aurice, 1922-
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY
TRANSPORTATION ROUTE IN CALIFORNIA TO
1920.
U n iversity of Southern C alifornia, Ph. D ., 1965
H istory, general
U niversity M icrofilms, Inc., A nn Arbor, M ichigan
Copyright by
James Maurice
1965
Jensen
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY
TRANSPORTATION ROUTE IN CALIFORNIA
TO 1920
by
James Maurice Jensen
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(History)
June 1965
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
T H E G R A D U A T E S C H O O L
U N IV E R S IT Y PARK
L O S A N G E L E S , C A L IF O R N IA 9 0 0 0 7
This dissertation, written by
JAMES MAURICE JENSEN
under the direction of h..^..Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by the Graduate
School, in partial fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of
D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y
..............
' Dean
Date ..J U U e . . . l . 9 . 6 5 . .........
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
PREFACE
Routes of travel by man in any given area are,
to a certain extent, determined by the various physical
characteristics of the land and also by the conveyances
available to him. A glance at a recent map of California
will indicate that the major thoroughfare through the Great
Central Valley tends to follow the center of the valley.
Early maps do not indicate such a line of travel. It is
the purpose of this study to show the development of the
route of travel in the Great Central Valley from the
earliest Indian trails to the modern highway, and to indi
cate the reasons for its development through the center of
the valley.
In determining the development of the major
thoroughfare, which now exists as the multilane highway
U.S. 99, a survey of the physical features of the land
through which the route traversed was made. Ample con
sideration was also given to any changes in the physical
features of the area which might have significantly altered
ii
the course or mode of travel.
Following a coverage of the physical features of
the land, an attempt was made to ascertain the historical
development of the major line of travel. I began with a
search of the Indian trails which developed in the valley
in order to determine whether or not the major artery of
travel was in fact an early Indian trail. I then attempted
to define the trails taken by the Spanish explorers, the
American and British fur trappers and the American ex
plorers in an effort to discover whether or not they were
instrumental in the establishment of the major route.
I found the period of settlement of the Great
Central Valley, especially during the gold rush, to be one
in which many routes developed. Not only was this due to
the increase in population but also to the introduction of
new conveyances, such as the use of steamboats for river
travel and the use of wagons and stage coaches for land
travel. Finally, I sought to determine the influence of
the railroad and the automobile in the establishment of the
major route of transportation. To assist the reader in
locating the routes, I used place names as they appear on
a modem map.
iii
Although studies have been made on various aspects
of transportation in the Great Central Valley, no previous
attempt has been made to show the development of the major
route from the earliest Indian trails to the emergence of
the modern highway. It is my hope that this study will aid
in the understanding of the development of one of the major
routes of transportation in Western America.
In gathering the material for this study, I grate
fully acknowledge the work of many writers. The footnotes
and bibliography indicate the sources from which the
material for it have been derived. I would be remiss if
I did not mention the extent to which my study was facili
tated in the search for place names, which no longer appear
on modern maps, by the works of Erwin G. Gudde, California
Place Names (Berkeley, 1960), and Carl I. Wheat, The Maps
of California, 1848-1857 (San Francisco, 1942). Recent
maps which aided me in locating the early trails in rela
tion to the modem highways were made available by the
Automobile Club of Southern California.
I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Donald C.
Cutter under whose tutelage this study began. I wish
also to acknowledge the tireless assistance of my wife,
♦
iv
Bonnie Mae Jensen. Her continuous cooperation and assist
ance made it possible for me to complete this work.
Los Angeles, James Maurice Jensen
March, 1965
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE.............................................. ii
Chapter
I. GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING.................... 1
Sacramento Valley..................... 3
San Joaquin V a l l e y................... 7
II. INDIAN TRAILS AND EUROPEAN PENETRATION . . . 12
Spanish explorations ...................... 16
Trails of the fur trappers.......... 24
Routes established by permanent
settlers ..... ...................... 35
III. INLAND WATERWAYS AS ROUTES OF
TRANSPORTATION . ........................ 48
River routes of the Sacramento Valley . . . 49
River routes of the San Joaquin Valley . . 71
IV. TRAILS, WAGON ROADS AND STAGECOACH ROUTES . . 86
Routes in the Sacramento Valley...... 89
Routes in the San Joaquin V a l l e y.... Ill
vi
Chapter Page
V. THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD............. 133
Railroad development in the Sacramento
Valley..................... 136
Railroad development in the San Joaquin
Valley.............................. 149
VI. THE EMERGENCE OF THE MODERN HIGHWAY.... 162
Highway route in the Sacramento Valley . . 167
Highway route in the San Joaquin Valley . . 173
VII. SUMMARY AND FINDINGS................... 177
BIBLIOGRAPHY................................ 185
vii
LIST OF MAPS
Map Page
1. River Routes of the Sacramento Valley......... 50
2. River Routes of the San Joaquin Valley .... 72
3. Wagon Roads and Stagecoach Routes of
the Sacramento Valley........................ 90
4. Wagon Roads and Stagecoach Routes of
the San Joaquin V a l l e y ...................... 112
5. Railroad Routes of the Sacramento Valley . . . 137
6. Railroad Routes of the San Joaquin Valley . . . 150
7. Highway Routes of the Sacramento Valley .... 168
8. Highway Routes of the San Joaquin Valley . . . 174
viii
CHAPTER I
GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING
The Great Central Valley of California is an elon
gated structural trough approximately 450 miles long. Its
width, though not constant, averages approximately 50
miles. It is often referred to as the Sacramento and San
Joaquin valleys after the two major rivers which flow from
.the north and south respectively and converge at Carquinez
Strait, the single outlet of the valley. Except for this
outlet, the Great Central Valley is completely enclosed by
mountains. On the east the land rises gradually from the
valley into the Sierra Nevada and the Southern Cascade.
On the north the Klamath Mountains and the Southern Cascade
merge to form a border while the southern end of the valley
is formed by the joining of the Tehachapi Mountains with
the Coast Range. The Coast Range forms the western border
of the valley.
1
Most of the valley lies close to sea level in
elevation. Along its margin it rises somewhat higher and
reaches its maximum height in the southern end of the
valley. Most of its eastern edge is not over 500 feet in
elevation, and its western edge is somewhat lower, ranging
in elevation from 50 to 350 feet.V
The origin of the valley is notable. Unlike most
valley formations in the United States which were formed
by streams wandering back and forth creating a Mv" shaped
valley, the Great Central Valley was mainly the result of
o
crustal movements. The record of the age of the valley
is found from the folding which elevated the mountains
surrounding it and which culminated in the latter part of
3
the Jurassic Period. During the Cretaceous Period, and
much of the Cenozoic Era, the valley extended over much of
the area which is now occupied by the Coast Range
1
Norman E. A. Hinds, Evolution of the California
Landscape, California Division of Mines, Bulletin 158
(San Francisco, 1952), p. 145.
2
Gilbert Ellis Bailey, California a Geological
Wonderland (Los Angeles, 1924), p. 47.
3
Hinds, Evolution of the California Landscape.
p. 145.
Mountains. It was late in the Pleistocene, or Ice Age,
that the compression which formed the Coast Range Mountains
began and continued throughout the Pliocene Epoch. This
movement created a mountain range of moderate height which
narrowed the width of the valley and created the present
outline of the western border.^
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
The northern portion of the Great Central Valley
which is drained by the Sacramento River, and referred to
as the Sacramento Valley, has a length of about 150 miles
from its northern apex to the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers
in the south. The floor of the valley proper narrows and
appears to end at Red Bluff in the north although there
are stretches of rich bottom land found in the area sur~
rounding Redding. The northern portion of the Sacramento
Valley between Redding and Cottonwood is separated from
the main valley by the Big Bend Hills. This section, which
4
Hinds, Evolution of the California Landscape.
p. 145.
5
Report of the Examining Commission on Rivers and
Harbors to the Governor of California (Sacramento, 1890),
p. 10.
comprises an area of some twenty miles long and three miles
wide, is called the Anderson Valley. It may be stated that
the Sacramento Valley actually begins at Redding.^
The Sacramento Valley widens from Red Bluff south
ward to the latitude of Chico to a width of twenty-five
miles. Southward from Colusa the valley is from thirty to
forty miles wide. The lands have a uniform slope to the
trough of the valley. Near Colusa the trough of the valley
is fifty feet high, and the valley edge in the east and in
the west is 120 feet high. At Sacramento the valley trough
is only eleven feet high while the base of the Coast Range
Mountains is 140 feet and the base of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains in the east is about 120 feet.^
Thus from its northern extremity to the delta
region east of Suisun Bay, the descent of the valley floor
is gradual. Most of the land area of the valley is flat.
g
Joseph A. McGowan, History of the Sacramento
Valley (New York, 1961), I, 7; see also N. P. Chipman,
"Northern California--The Sacramento Valley: Its Resources
and Industries," Overland Monthly. Second Series, XXXVII
(April, 1901), 891; Paul R. Griffen and Robert N. Young,
California: The New Empire State (San Francisco, 1957),
p. 225.
7
Report of the Examining Cottanission on Rivers and
Harbors to the Governor of California, pp. 10-11.
This is due to the fact that sediment has been deposited
in the great trough for a long period of time. The large
quantities of sediment were carried into the valley by the
streams which flow from the mountains, the greater part
coming from the Sierra Nevada, Klamath and Cascade.
Midway between the outlying hills flows the Sacra”
mento River. The Sacramento River enters the basin at the
northern apex and flows southward with sufficient volume
to maintain a clear channel the entire year. The waters
draining from the Sierra Nevada Mountains into the Sacra”
mento River are collected in the Feather River and its two
major tributaries, the Yuba and Bear rivers. The American
River also drains into the Sacramento as do many other
smaller streams. The drainage of the hills south of the
American River nearly all flows into the tributaries of the
Cosumnes River.
In contrast to the large quantities of water which
descend the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Feather and
American rivers, the east”flowing creeks which rise in the
Coast Range Mountains are dry most of the year and con
tribute only limited djainag ' into the Sacramento River.
The streams descending the Coast Range which are directly
tributary to the Sacramento River are Reeds, Red Bank,
Thomas and Stony creeks, plus a few smaller streams which
are tributary to Stony. The water entering the Sacramento
Valley south of Stony Creek and north of the area tributary
to Cache Creek flows into Colusa Basin. During the low
stages of the Sacramento River, the water in the Colusa
Basin is drained through Sycamore Slough but the bottom of
g
the basin is so low that complete drainage is impossible.
The drainage waters which are collected by Cache and Putah
creeks and the lesser streams south of Cache Creek to the
Montezuma Hills are all drained into the Yolo Basin.
Because it is below the low water level of Suisun Bay,
o
complete drainage of the Yolo Basin is not possible.
There are five principal basins: Butte, Colusa,
Sutter, American and Yolo with two smaller basins, the
Sacramento and Marysville, located on both sides of the
Sacramento River. These basins are usually dry most of
the year but during a flood are inundated. Before any
Report of the Examining Commission on Rivers and
Harbors to the Governor of California, p. 12.
9
Report of the Examining Commission on Rivers and
Harbors to the Governor of California, p. 12.
reclamation began, about 60 per cent of the valley was
subject to overflow. The construction of dikes creating
the Yolo and Sutter bypasses and the building of Shasta and
Folsom dams have resulted in the drainage of large areas
of the flood basins and the control of the runoff of the
Sacramento River.
As the Sacramento River approaches the single out
let of the basin through Carquinez Strait, it merges with
the waters of the San Joaquin River which enters Suisun
Bay from the southeast through the San Joaquin Valley.
Between the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys are the
Delta lands, an insular area with marshes, levees, natural
dikes and many minor channels off of the main rivers.
Until recently this area was subject to inundation by high
tides and serious flooding from the overflow of the rivers.
It is in the Delta region, opposite the point of outfall
of the rivers, that the Sacramento Valley merges with the
San Joaquin Valley.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
The larger part of the Great Central Valley which
extends south of the Cosumnes River and Suisun Bay is
the San Joaquin Valley. It extends some 250 miles south
easterly from the Delta region to the Tehachapi Mountains.
Above the Delta region the San Joaquin Valley consists of
two unequal plains which slope from the hills on either
side toward the valley trough. Of these, the plain on the
east side of the valley is the wider, making the trough
of the valley touch closer to the base of the Coast Range
Mountains than to the Sierra Nevada. This is due to the
many streams which descend the western slope of the Sierra
Nevada and which have deposited huge alluvial fans across
the valley floor pushing the San Joaquin River west of
center. This strong dominance in the drainage from the
Sierra Nevada Mountains has given the valley an asymmetri
cal appearance.
The asymmetrical-like appearance, which is not
characteristic of the Sacramento Valley, is a result of
the aridity of the climate. The streams, overloaded with
sediment because of the lower volume of water as they reach
the lower drier slopes of the mountains, have formed
alluvial fans. The larger fans are at the mouths of the
rivers from the Sierra Nevada. The building of the
alluvial fans has not been equal, and in two points
the silt formed ridges across the entire trough of the
valley. This has converted portions of the valley above
these ridges into basins, and the drainage water received
by these basins was unable to flow down the valley to
Suisun Bay.
The southernmost basin was created by the alluvial
fan of the Kern River. As this fan extended across the
valley against the McKittrick Hills, the area to the south
was isolated creating the Kern and Buena Vista lakes.
During flood stages a part of the natural overflow went
northward through the Buena Vista swamps into Tulare Lake.
Tulare Lake was formed in the basin created by the
huge alluvial fan which the Kings River built across the
valley and which joined with a fan created by Los Gatos
Creek flowing from the Coast Range Mountains. Tulare Lake
received water from the Tule, Kaweah and Kings rivers.
The Kings River, unlike the Kern, Tule and Kaweah rivers,
enters the San Joaquin Valley in a channel through bottom
lands which are cconsiderably lower than the surrounding
land. It discharges part of its water through the main
channel into Tulare Lake. The other part enters the
drainage area of the San Joaquin River through Cole Slough
10
and other channels. Thus the Kings River can be considered
the first tributary of the San Joaquin River.
The streams which descend from the Sierra Nevada
Mountains north of the Tulare Basin--the Merced, Tuolumne,
Stanislaus, Calaveras, Mokelumne, and Cosumnes--usually
discharge in sufficient quantity and constancy to prevent
the formation of ridges across the San Joaquin Valley, thus
enabling the San Joaquin River to luiintain an open channel
all the way to Suisun Bay.
Prior to the development of the reclamation pro
grams which have attempted to control the flow of water
into the Great Central Valley through the building of dams
and levees, large areas were inundated during the rainy
season. Travel through the valley was difficult and at
times impossible. Routes of travel had to avoid the swamps
and lakes. The streams had to be forded. The routes of
travel would fluctuate due to the size of the flood basin
or lake which had to be circumvented or the size of the
stream which had to be crossed. The first to encounter
•^Report of the Examining Commission on Rivers and
Harbors to the Governor of California, p. 75.
these difficulties were the Indians who established the
earliest routes of travel in the Great Central Valley.
CHAPTER II
INDIAN TRAILS AND EUROPEAN PENETRATION
Native trade routes or trails had long been in use
at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards in the Great
Central Valley of California. These Indian trails criss
crossed each other in the valleys, and early travelers
were often confused by the many choices. Their origin
often was created by game trails leading to such resources
as salt and water. Primitive man used these resources and
could easily have expanded the game trails to paths which
furnished access routes, not only to these resources but
also to aid in searching for other raw materials and food
supplies. With the arrival of the Spanish and the estab
lishment of permanent settlements along the coast, new
trade routes were created by the aborigines in order to
obtain white man's goods.^
^L. L. Sample, "Trade and Trails in Aboriginal
California," University of California Archaeological
Survey, No. 8 (Berkeley, 1950), p. 1. Hereinafter cited
as Sample, "Trade and Trails," UCAS.
12
13
The trade routes used by the Indians are difficult
or impossible to locate today. The early trails in the
valley itself were so narrow that they served merely as
footpaths for the natives; horses or wagons could not pass
through the brush country. However, the trails which led
to mountain passes are easy to distinguish because they
2
were wide and worn from long use.
Through mountain passes north of Redding, the Walla
Walla Indians entered the Great Central Valley as early
as 1800 to acquire horses for trading purposes. They
crossed the Cascade Range northwest of Mt. Lassen to the
head waters of Cow Creek which in turn led them to the
3
Sacramento River and into the Sacramento Valley. Refer"
ence is also made to an old Wintoon trail along the Sacra
mento River from Sisson down to Redding at the head of the
Great Central Valley.^
2
Sample, ’ ’ Trade and Trails,” UCAS, p. 2.
3
Alice Bay Maloney, ’ ’Shasta was Shatasla in 1814,”
California Historical Society Quarterly. XXIV (September,
1945), 230.
4
C. Hart Merriam, Studies of California Indians
(Berkeley, 1955), p. 11.
14
South of Redding, Indian trails existed along the
Sacramento and Feather rivers. Trails extended east from
Sacramento to the Sierra Nevada Mountains along the routes
of present U.S. 40 and U.S. 50. Indian trails crossed
the Coast Range Mountains along present State Highway 20
from Colusa to Ukiah, along present State Highway 16
from Clear Lake to Sacramento and along present State High
way 128 from Sacramento to Calistoga.^
In contrast to the relatively few Indian trails
established in the Sacramento Valley, many Indian trails
existed in the San Joaquin Valley. One trail led out of
the valley to the east through Walker Pass. To the south
trails crossed the Tehachapi Mountains through Oak Creek
Pass, Old Tejon Pass and Grapevine Pass. Numerous trails
went west across the valley to the Coast Range Mountains.
One of the most important of these went south of Maricopa
to Cuyama Valley. The trade from Santa Barbara and Santa
Maria crossed on this trail. Other trails crossed the
Coast Range through the Carrizo Plains, along present
“ \james T. Davis, "Trade Routes and Economic
Exchange Among the Indians of California,” University of
California Archaeological Survey. No. 54 (Berkeley, 1961),
p. 47.
U.S. 466 from Bakersfield to Paso Robles, along present
State Highway 198 from Coalinga to King City, along present
State Highway 152 from Los Banos to Gilroy by way of
Pacheco Pass, east of Patterson along Del Puerto Creek and
along present U.S. 50 from Tracy to Livermore by way of
Altamont Pass.** Within the San Joaquin Valley there is
evidence to indicate that there were Indian trails which
paralleled the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada foothills, the
west bank of the San Joaquin River and the tule lakes in
the southern extremity.
Generally the Indian trails of the Great Central
Valley ran east to west. The predominance of the east to
west routes was probably due to the ecological differences
created by the Sierra Nevada Mountains, interior valley,
7
Coast Range Mountains and sea coast environments.
Although there is evidence to indicate that the
portions of the route now designated as U.S. 99 at its
northern and southern extremities in the Great Central
g
F. F. Latta, Handbook of Yokuts Indians (Bakers
field, California, 1949), pp. 67-68.
^Sample, "Trade and Trails,” UCAS, p. 5.
16
Valley were Indian trails, there is no evidence that a
major north-south route of travel existed in the center of
the Great Central Valley during the pre-European period.
By following the Indian trails through the passes of the
Tehachapi and Coast Range mountains, the Spaniards made
their first penetration into the Great Central Valley.
SPANISH EXPLORATIONS
The first Spaniards to enter the Great Central
Valley were probably deserters of the first colonizing
expedition who reached the valley shortly after their
arrival in California in 1769. Pedro Fages, who entered
the southern San Joaquin Valley in 1772, was in search of
Q
deserters. Fages entered the valley from the south
through Grapevine Canyon and proceeded northward to the
village of Buena Vista, located at the base of Buena Vista
Hills on the southwestern edge of Buena Vista Lake. He
departed from the valley by way of the Temblor Range
across the Carrizo Plain and the La Panza Range to San
g
Herbert E. Bolton, "In the South San Joaquin Ahead
of Garces," California Historical Society Quarterly. X
(September, 1931), 214. Hereinafter cited as Bolton, "In
the South San Joaquin," CHSQ.
17
Q
Luis Obispo. After Fages, the next to enter the southern
portion of the San Joaquin Valley was Fray Francisco Garces
who came into the valley by way of Tejon Pass in 1776.
Garces went northward to the Kern River where he crossed
a little above Bakersfield. Traveling northward he reached
Poso Creek and White River. On his return trip, he covered
much the same territory but left the valley by way of
1 0
Tehachapi Pass.
In the period prior to 1800, expeditions entered
the Great Central Valley from the west. Pedro Fages and
Fray Juan Crespi, on an expedition in 1772 in search
for a possible site for the second northern mission, ex
plored the eastern border of the San Francisco Bay. The
expedition went up the east bay shore to Oakland and Rich
mond. Their journey north was cut off by Carquinez Strait,
and thus they proceeded to the area of Martinez. They
climbed Mt. Diablo and viewed the Great Central Valley
^Bolton, "In the South San Joaquin," CHSQ, X, 215;
see also Donald Colgett Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of
California’s Central Valley" (unpublished Ph.D. disserta
tion, University of California, Berkeley, 1950), p. 32.
^Elliott Coues, On the Trail of a Spanish Pioneer
(New York, 1900), I, 271-304; Cutter, "Spanish Exploration
of California's Central Valley," pp. 34-39-
18
and the junction of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.
After camping near Antioch, they returned to the San Fran
cisco Bay area.^
The 1776 exploration of Juan Bautista de Anza
followed the Fages-Crespi expedition. Accompanied by Fray
Pedro Font and Lieutenant Jose Joaquin Moraga, Anza went
into the San Francisco Delta region. The route followed
much the same territory explored earlier by Fages in 1772.
The Anza expedition saw the Great Central Valley from a
hill southeast of Antioch. The expedition followed the
Old River to Bethany and returned to Monterey by way of
12
Patterson Pass.
The expeditions of Fages, Anza and Garces did not
make any deep penetration into the Great Central Valley,
and their records reveal a general vagueness. Perhaps
this is due to their main purpose: the capturing of
Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of California*s
Central Valley," pp. 3-9; Herbert Ingram Priestly, Fran
ciscan Explorations in California, ed. by Lillian Estelle
Fisher (Glendale, California, 1946), pp. 38-41.
12
Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of California’s
Central Valley," pp. 14-23; Priestly, Franciscan Explora
tions in California, pp. 61-62.
*9
13
deserters and runaway mission Indians.
A period of active exploration of the interior
valley began in 1806; the general purpose for these
journeys was to find suitable sites for missions. In July
of 1806 an expedition headed by Fray Jose Marfa Zalvidea
and Lieutenant Francisco Marfa Ruiz left Santa Barbara and
traveled east, entering the San Joaquin Valley by way of
Bitterwater Creek. The expedition circled Buena Vista Lake
by a southern route and proceeded north to the area of the
Kern River, then turned southward and left the valley by
14
Old Tejon Pass.
On September 21, 1806, another expedition went
into the Great Central Valley. This expedition, led by
Gabriel Moraga and Fray Pedro Munoz, left Mission San Juan
Bautista and journeyed east passing through Pacheco Pass
to the San Joaquin River. They crossed the San Joaquin
River and headed north. By September 28 the expedition was
on the Merced River. Moving north “northwest, they came
13
Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of California’s
Central Valley," p. 47.
^Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of California’s
Central Valley," pp. 63-74.
to the Tuolumne River and arrived at the Stanislaus River
by October 2. The group continued north to the Mokelumne,
which was the furthest north they went. By October 9 the
group had returned to Bear Creek near Merced. They crossed
Mariposa Creek, Chowchilla River, Fresno River and reached
the San Joaquin River October 11. From there they con
tinued south and crossed the Kings River, Kaweah River,
Tule River, White River, and on October 28 the expedition
arrived at the Kern River near Bakersfield. The expedition
IS
left the valley by way of Grapevine Pass.
In 1808 Gabriel Moraga led a group into the Sacra
mento Valley leaving Mission San Jose September 25. The
expedition crossed the San Joaquin River and proceeded
north to the Stanislaus River where the region was explored
for possible mission sites but none were found. They pro
ceeded north to the Mokelumne River which had been the
furthest point reached by the Moraga expedition of 1806.
This region was explored for possible mission sites, but
Sherburne Friend Cook, "Colonial Expeditions to
the Interior of California Central Valley," University of
California Anthropological Records. 16:6 (Berkeley,
1960), pp. 248-254; Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of Cali
fornia’s Central Valley," pp. 99-116.
21
none were found- The group continued north to the Cosumnes
River, and by October 7, 1808, it had reached the American
River which was explored upstream from Folsom to about
Auburn. The next river north was reached October 8.
Moraga called this the Sacramento, but it was really the
Feather River. This river was crossed, and the group
traveled north to the Marysville Buttes. The expedition
now turned west and reached the Sacramento Riv^r which the
Spanish called the Jesus Maria. They ascended the river
to about Butte City. At this point the group turned south
to explore the Tuolumne and Merced rivers to ascertain
whether or not mission sites could be established. The
Tuolumne area was not considered suitable for missions.
The only good site for a mission in the Merced River area
was on low land and would be subjected to seasonal floods.
From the Merced River, the expedition returned to Mission
San Jose arriving there October 23, 1808.^
16
Donald C. Cutter, ed., The Diarv of Ensign
Moraga*s Expedition of Discovery in the Sacramento Valiev
1808, Early California Travel Series, XLI (Los Angeles,
1957); Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of California*s Central
Valley,” pp. 123-137.
22
The expeditions which followed the 1808 exploratory
trek of Gabriel Moraga were generally of a punitive nature
and added little to the general knowledge of the topography
of the region. These later expenditions were led by mili
tary personnel rather than religious and were sent out to
punish alleged Indian trouble makers and to capture mission
fugitives. Two of the later expeditions led by Luis
Argtiello, in the years 1817 and 1821, covered areas of the
Sacramento Valley not previously explored and will there-
17
fore be included in this study.
The 1817 expedition was one of many which had
entered the Delta region between 1811 and 1817. This ex
pedition, which included Luis Argtiello, Fray Narciso Duran
and Fray Ramon Abella, left b y boat from the San Francisco
Presidio on May 13, 1817. It ascended the Sacramento River
to a place near Freeport arriving there May 20. It then
turned south to the Mokelumne River and ascended the San
Joaquin River for a short distance. The expedition arrived
1 R
back at San Francisco on May 26, 1817.
•^Sherburne Friend Cook, "The Conflict Between
the California Indian and White Civilization," Ibero-
Americana. No. 22 (Berkeley, 1943), pp. 3-55.
18
Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of California’s
Central Valley," pp. 190-199.
23
The 1821 expedition was sent into the Sacramento
Valley to investigate the report of foreign intrusion into
the Great Central Valley. Luis Argtiello was accompanied
by Fray Bias Ordaz and John Gilroy, a Scot, who was to act
as an interpreter and was the first English-speaking man
to enter the Great Central Valley. The Sacramento River
was ascended to the area of Redding, but no foreign settle
ments were found in the valley. The expedition left the
Sacramento Valley by a route west to the Trinity River
and then south arriving at Mission San Jose on November 11,
1821.19
Although the expeditions into the Great Central
Valley did not end with Argtiello's of 1821, it was the last
to traverse an area not previously explored. The numerous
expeditions by the Spaniards into the interior of the Great
Central Valley made no significant contribution to the
establishment of a major route of transportation traversing
the length of the valley. The trails which they followed
through the passes of the Tehachapi and Coast Range moun
tains were in most cases those previously used by the
IQ
Cutter, "Spanish Exploration of California's
Central Valley," pp. 258-268.
24
Indians. Often the Spaniards followed the trails in the
valley which led to Indian villages. The routes of travel
were in most cases determined by the conditions of the land
and thus the path would often change. Furthermore the
north-south routes were so infrequently used there was no
permanent route established to be followed by the mountain
men and fur trappers who entered the valley in the late
1820*s.
TRAILS OF THE FUR TRAPPERS
The expeditions made by the fur trappers into the
Great Central Valley were to cause a general change in the
development of the area. The first fur trappers to enter
the valley were led by Jedediah Smith who arrived in 1827.
The route by which Smith entered the Great Central Valley
was through Oak Creek Pass to Tehachapi Creek which was
followed to the floor of the valley. The route went north
and crossed the Kern River near Bakersfield and continued
on to Tulare Lake. The route north was approximately the
same as the present highway U.S. 99. North from the Tulare
Lake region the route was close to the present line of the
Southern Pacific Railroad, going through what is now Famoso
25
and Delano then turning west and passing the site of Han
ford and reaching the Kings River near La ton. The route
continued north along the line of the Southern Pacific
Railroad through Raisin City and Kerman reaching the San
Joaquin River near Mendota. The route north then followed
the west bank of the San Joaquin River to the mouth of the
Stanislaus where it crossed over to the east bank.
At the mouth of the Stanislaus River, Smith and
his party established a camp so that they might remain in
the valley to trap along the streams descending the Sierra
Nevada Mountains and tributary to the San Joaquin River.
While the majority of the party remained in the Great
Central Valley to trap, Smith left to return to Utah in
May of 1827. He returned to California by summer and re
entered the Great Central Valley by the same route he had
used earlier. His route north was closer to the foothills
than his earlier route in order to avoid the marshy land
which extended from the Kern River to the San Joaquin.
He reached the camp on the Stanislaus River by September,
1827.
From the camp on the Stanislaus River, Smith and
his men traveled west to Mission San Jose by way of
26
Altamont Pass. By December the trappers were back in the
valley. They trapped the lower tributaries of the San
Joaquin and also the Calaveras, Mokelumne and Cosumnes
rivers.
Continuing northward, the trappers entered the
Sacramento Valley in 1828. Their route, after crossing
the American River, was up the east bank of the Feather
River. Camp was made at the junction of the Yuba and
Feather rivers where they stayed for a week. The group
crossed the Yuba River about a mile above Marysville on
March 16, 1828. They went up the Yuba River some ten to
fifteen miles. By March 26 they had reached the Feather
River about five miles above present Biggs Station on the
Southern Pacific Railroad. The course now turned north
west, which brought the trappers to the Sacramento River
at Jacinto on March 28, 1828. From then until April 10,
at which time they were opposite Red Bluff, the trappers
had moved along the east bank of the Sacramento River.
They crossed the Sacramento River just above Red Bluff and
20
headed west leaving the Great Central Valley.
20
Dale L. Morgan and Carl I. Wheat, Jedediah Smith
and His Maps of the American West (San Francisco, 1954),
pp. 67-73.
27
Ftom the Great Central Valley, the route of Smith
and his trappers continued north along the coast to Oregon.
The furs procured by Smith in the Great Central Valley were
purchased by Dr. John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Com
pany at Fort Vancouver.
Interest in the Great Central Valley by the
Hudson's Bay Company stems from the arrival of Jedediah
Smith. The first Hudson’s Bay Company brigade which
reached as far south as California was led by Alexander
Roderick McCleod and guided by John Turner, one of the mem
bers of the Smith party. This brigade reached the Sacra-
21
mento Valley in 1829. The route taken by McCleod was
that of Smith which had been along the coast and over the
Coast Range Mountains by way of the Trinity River. The
brigade successfully trapped the tributaries of the Sacra
mento River and descended down the valley probably as far
as Stockton.
While McCleod was engaged in trapping the Sacra
mento River and its tributaries, Peter Skene Ogden,
21
Alice Bay Maloney, "Hudson's Bay Company in
California," Oregon Historical Quarterly. XXXVII (March,
1936), 11. Hereinafter cited as Maloney, "Hudson's Bay
Company," OHQ.
another of the Hudson's Bay Company trappers, entered the
Great Central Valley from the south. He made his way into
the valley either by way of Walker Pass or by one of the
passes which cross the Tehachapi Mountains. His journey
north was along the east side of the valley to the mouth
of the Sacramento River. In the area of French Camp he
22
saw signs of the McCleod brigade. His route out of Cali
fomia is not clear. He may have taken the route up the
Feather River across the mountains through the pass which
later became known as Beckwourth's or he may have taken
the Pit River route. From California he headed east to
23
the Great Basin, an area known to Ogden.
The brigades of Ogden and McCleod were the fore
runners of many groups which the Hudson's Bay Company,
sent into the Great Central Valley. Michael La Framboise
was in the valley in 1832 and trapped the streams north
22
Alice Bay Maloney, "Peter Skene Ogden's Trapping
Expedition to the Gulf of California, 1829-1830," Cali
fornia Historical Society Quarterly, XIX (December, 1940),
313. Hereinafter cited as Maloney, "Peter Skene Ogden,"
CHSQ.
^Maloney, "Peter Skene Ogden," CHSQ, XIX, 314.
29
24
and west of the San Joaquin River. La Framboise was
joined in trapping the valley in 1832 by a brigade under
the leadership of John Work. This group entered the valley
by way of Cow Creek and traveled along the bank of the
Sacramento River to Marysville Buttes. It was while camped
at the Buttes that Work was joined by La Framboise who had
25
been as far south as French Camp. John Work left the
valley and visited Sonoma Mission and Fort Ross. He re
entered the valley and trapped as far south as the Stanis-
26
laus River.
After 1832, the Hudson’s Bay Company sent yearly
brigades into the Great Central Valley to trap and trade
with the Indians for fur pelts. La Framboise was in the
valley again in 1834. In the simmer of 1835 La Framboise
was supposed to have his headquarters on an island in
24
J. J. Warner, ’ ’Reminiscences of Early California
from 1831-1846," Historical Society of Southern California
Publications, VII (1907-1908), 187. Hereinafter cited as
Warner, "Reminiscences,’ ’ HSSCP.
25
Alice Bay Maloney, ed., Fur Brigade to the Bona-
ventura (San Francisco, 1945), p. xix. Hereinafter cited
as Maloney, Fur Brigade.
26
Maloney, Fur Brigade, p. xix.
30
the Sacramento River, but he was warned by Mariano Vallejo
27
to keep out of California. Competition from American
trappers had lessened the profits of the brigades. There
was also strong opposition to the Hudson’s Bay Company from
American trappers and settlers as well as from the Mexican
Government. The end of the trapping activities of the
Hudson's Bay Company brigades came in 1845.
Thus for a period of fifteen years, the brigades
of the Hudson's Bay Company had entered the Great Central
Valley to trap or trade for fur pelts. During the years
they were engaged in trapping the Great Central Valley, the
brigades often faced competition from American trappers
who had followed Jedediah Smith into the valley. The first
to reach the valley after Smith was Ewing Young, who
entered the valley in 1829 along the route previously used
by Jedediah Smith.
Young found Ogden and his brigade in the valley
and trapped with them as they descended the San Joaquin
Valley. Young trapped the streams emptying into the
^Maloney, "Hudson’s Bay Company," OHQ, XXXVII, 12.
Warner, "Reminiscences," HSSCP, VII, 184.
31
Tulare Lake and also the San Joaquin and its tributaries.
He probably went as far north as the Delta region east of
Suisun Bay. The two groups then separated. Ogden traveled
north along the Sacramento River, and Young went south to
the vicinity of Los Angeles.
Ewing Young returned to the Great Central Valley
in the early part of October, 1831, with a small group of
trappers. They entered the valley through Grapevine Pass
and proceeded north along the western shore of the lakes
in the southern portion of the valley until they reached
the moutn of the Kings River. They trapped for beaver on
the Kings River and then proceeded north to the San Joaquin
River, which they found had recently been trapped; Michael
La Framboise had been in the area in the spring of 1832.
Finding the San Joaquin River area depleted of
fur-bearing animals, Young and his trappers proceeded
northward. They experienced great difficulty because of
the flooded area at the confluence of the American and
Sacramento rivers. They crossed the Sacramento River at
the mouth of the Feather River, and proceeded to Putah
Creek which they ascended; then they crossed the Coast
Range Mountains leaving the valley. Young proceeded north
32
along the coast and re-entered the valley by the Pit River
route. The trappers descended the Sacramento Valley and
reached the trail of the previous year near the mouth of
the Kings River. Young and his men followed this route
29
southward and left the valley.
After Ewing Young, the next American to lead a
group of trappers into the Great Central Valley was Joseph
Reddeford Walker. He entered the Great Central Valley
from the east in 1833, crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains
between the headwaters of the Merced and Tuolumne rivers.
He trapped for beaver along the Merced River as far as the
San Joaquin and then proceeded north along the San Joaquin
to Suisun Bay which he skirted along the southern edge
before heading south. He re-entered the Great Central
Valley by leaving San Juan Bautista on January 13, 1834,
heading east and crossing the Coast Range Mountains.
Walker had no desire to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains
in the winter; therefore his route did not take him
directly across the valley but instead he turned south
intending to leave the valley by Jedediah Smith's route.
29Wamer, ’ ’Reminiscences,” HSSCP. VII, 188.
33
While in the southern San Joaquin Valley, he was told by
the Indians of a pass to the east which could be crossed
with little difficulty. Consequently, he took a route
which ascended the Kern River and left the valley through
30
Walker's Pass.
Although Joseph Walker was not the last American
fur trapper to enter the Great Central Valley, no further
description of the routes of the mountain men who searched
for beaver along the streams of the California mountains
and foothills is necessary to this study. The trails
established by Smith, Young and Walker traversed most of
the Great Central Valley. They assisted in determining
the routes for those who followed. The trails which
entered the valley through the mountain passes, which are
now part of the major routes of travel, were easy to fol
low. Because much of the valley was flooded during the
rainy season, the trails in the floor of the valley were
often erased and new routes had to be established. It was
in areas where the ground was not subjected to the seasonal
30
Douglas W. Watson, Westwind: The Life Story of
Joseph Reddeford Walker. Knight of the Golden Horseshoe
(Los Angeles, 1934), pp. 57-68.
floods that the trails remained visible.
Although the American and Hudson's Bay Company
trappers visited the streams of the southern San Joaquin
Valley, there does not seem to have been the frequency of
travel in that region as there was in the Sacramento
Valley. Each year, after 1832, the Hudson's Bay Company
brigades entered the Sacramento Valley over routes which
had been previously used. Although there is no evidence
that a distinguishable road was established through the
length of the valley, there is some indication that the
fur trappers tended to return to camp sites previously
used and also tended to cross the numerous streams, rivers
and creeks at places which had previously been found
suitable.
The need for improved routes of travel, whether by
land or water, was not of sufficient concern to the
Indians, Spanish or fur trappers who traversed the Great
Central Valley, for them to expend any effort to change
the conditions as they found them. Conditions of travel
in the Great Central Valley were no better at the time of
the establishment of the first permanent settlements than
they were at the arrival of the first English settlers
35
on the Atlantic Coast. There were no roads, just paths or
trails. There were no aids to transport people or goods
across the various streams. Not until there were permanent
white settlers in the Great Central Valley were any major
routes of transportation developed.
ROUTES ESTABLISHED BY PERMANENT SETTLERS
The beginnings of permanent settlement in the Great
Central Valley start with John Marsh, who established him
self on his rancho, Los Meganos, at the eastern base of
Mt. Diablo in 1838. His nearest American neighbor was
Robert Livingston, some fifteen miles away in the pass
which led to Mission San Jose. The only other neighbors
were Spanish and Mexican ranchers in the adjoining ranchos
and the Hudson's Bay Company trappers who spent part of
the year at French Camp, arriving each fall from Oregon
and leaving each spring. By 1839, Marsh was to have a new
neighbor, John A. Sutter.
The strategic fortress which John Sutter built at
the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers became
the most important settlement in the Great Central Valley.
Hunters and trappers who frequented the valley converged
36
on Sutter's Fort to find food, shelter and in some cases
employment. Sutter’s Fort also became the mecca of the
overland migration which began in 1841.
The first of the overland migration parties to
enter the Great Central Valley from the east was the
Bidwell-Bartleson party which arrived at the rancho of
John Marsh in November of 1841. They had crossed the
Sierra Nevada Mountains and entered the valley by descend
ing5 the Stanislaus River. No iiranigrant parties entered
the Great Central Valley in 1842, but the immigration began
again in 1843 with Lansford H. Hastings who was in charge
of a group from Oregon. The Hastings group made the
journey south through the Sacramento Valley by following
the west bank of the Sacramento River. They arrived at
Sutter's Fort in July of 1843. By November, a portion of
the Chiles-Walker party had entered the Sacramento Valley
by the Pit River route and arrived at Sutter's Fort. The
portion of the Chiles-Walker party under the command of
Joseph Walker entered the Great Central Valley in the
south through Walker's Pass and crossed the valley to John
Gilroy's ranch.
37
There were only two immigrant parties to enter the
Great Central Valley in 1844. One of these was the Kelsey
party from Oregon and the other was the Stevens-Murphy
party. The Stevens-Murphy party was the first to bring
wagons into the valley. They entered by way of the Truckee
River route which became the most widely used by later
arrivals.
The immigrant parties which entered the Great
Central Valley in 1845 were far more numerous than in any
preceding year. There were at least six groups. From
Oregon came the McMahon-Clyman Party which entered the
valley by a route southwest of Mount Shasta and traveled
south keeping west of the Sacramento River to Gordon's
31
rancho on Cache Creek. From Gordon's, the party went on
to the Sacramento River where they crossed by swimming the
animals. The baggage was ferried across in a whale boat
32
manned by Sutter's Indians. The routes of the other
groups were over trails previously used, the most
31
Charles L. Camp, ed., James Clvman. American
Frontiersman. 1792-1881 (San Francisco, 1928), see map
opposite page 152. Hereinafter cited as Camp, Janies
Clvman.
32
Camp, James Clvman. p. 172.
frequently used being the Truckee River route.
In contrast to the overland immigrant parties,
whose members came to settle the inland agricultural por
tions of the Great Central Valley, were the government
explorers. In August of 1841, a portion of the exploring
expedition of the United States government under the com
mand of Charles Wilkes arrived at Sutter's Fort. Their
purpose was to explore the interior of California. They
arrived by boat from San Francisco on August 23. Two days
later they ascended the Sacramento River to a point near
Colusa. They then descended the river and returned to
33
Sutter's Fort arriving on August 31.
Another segment of the Wilkes expedition made the
trip from Oregon to Sutter's Fort by an overland route
through the Sacramento Valley in October of 1841 under the
command of Lieutenant George Emmons. This exploring party,
which included three immigrant families, entered the
Sacramento Valley by a route closely following present
U.S. 99. The party descended the valley for many miles
33
Charles Wilkes, Narrative of the United States
Exploring Expedition During the Years 1838. 1839. 1840.
1841, 1842 (Philadelphia, 1845), V, 177-189. Hereinafter
cited as Wilkes, Narrative of U.S. Exploring Expedition.
39
along the west bank of the Sacramento River. It finally
forded the river to the east bank where the land was more
level and passed near the Marysville Buttes. It proceeded
to the Feather River which was forded about two miles
above the confluence with the Sacramento. It arrived at
Sutter's Fort on October 19, 1841. Upon leaving Sutter's
Fort, the party divided into two groups: one descended
the Sacramento River by launch to join the major part of
the expedition in San Francisco Bay and the other group
went overland, crossing the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers,
to French Camp. The party then crossed the San Joaquin
Q/
River and headed west to Mission San Jose.
Following the Wilkes expedition, the next group of
explorers to arrive in the Great Central Valley was com
manded by John Charles Fremont. The group entered the
valley in 1844 by way of the American River and was guided
to Sutter's Fort by Indians who were employees of Sutter.
After a short stay at Sutter's Fort, Fremont and his men
journeyed south through the valley, keeping east of the
34
Wilkes, Narrative of U.S. Exploring Expedition.
V, 237-247.
40
San Joaquin River. They left the valley by way of Teha-
35
chapi Pass and journeyed east.
In December of 1845 Fremont returned to California
and, with a small portion of his detachment, entered the
valley and arrived at Grimes' ranch on the American River.
The detachment proceeded to Sutter's Fort. The main body
of Fremont's group had entered the upper San Joaquin
Valley by way of Walker's Pass. The two groups were re
united near San Jose. Their presence on the coast of
California created a concern among the Mexican officials
who demanded that Fremont and his explorers leave Cali
fornia.
The explorers re-entered the Great Central Valley
by way of Pacheco Pass in March of 1846 and arrived at
Sutter’s Fort on March 22. From a campsite opposite
Grimes' ranch on the American River, the group went north
to Keyser's ranch on the Bear River. They then traveled
across the Sacramento Valley and reached the Feather River
near the mouth of the Yuba. Located there was a farm
owned by Theodor Cordua. From Cordua's farm, the trail
^■\john Charles Fremont, Memoirs of Mv Life
(Chicago, 1887), I, 349“361. Hereinafter cited as Fremont,
Memoirs.
41
led to Butte Creek where they camped at Neal’s rancho.
The trail on which they traveled was some two or three
miles east of the Sacramento River and some twelve to
fifteen miles from the Sierras. They camped at Peter
Lassen's farm on Deer Creek and then left the Sacramento
36
Valley by way of Red Bank Creek.
Fremont and his men returned to the Sacramento
Valley and by May of 1846 were camped near the Marysville
Buttes. Subsequent events led to an uprising of the
American settlers of northern California and the eventual
capture of the area by the Bear Flaggers. Except for the
use of Sutter's Fort for the detainment of Mariano Vallejo
and his Sonoma garrison by the Bear Flaggers, the military
activities of the Mexican War are outside the area of the
Great Central Valley.
At the end of the war there was some increased
activity at Sutter's Fort but the remainder of the Great
Central Valley remained unchanged. The settlers of the
valley, such as John Marsh, William Johnson, Sebastian
Keyser, Nicholaus Allgeier, Theodor Cordua and others,
Fremont, Memoirs. I, 470-475.
42
did not number fifty and practically all of them were
37
squawmen.
The settlements south of Sutter's Fort were few
indeed; that is, prior to 1848. Charles Weber began his
settlement at Tuleberg, present-day Stockton, in 1846 with
a few families, but fear of Mexican reprisals during the
Mexican War caused the settlers to leave. Weber had
located on land at the head of Stockton Channel. The road
from Sutter's Fort to San Jose passed near his settlement.
At the end of the war in California, with the signing of
the Capitulation of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847, Weber
attempted to interest people in settling on his land. In
the fall of 1847 settlers began to establish themselves at
Tuleburg. Other settlers established themselves in the
area east of Tuleburg, present Stockton, but most of them
remained for just a short time and left prior to the gold
u 38
rush.
South of Stockton, only one settlement was
attempted prior to the gold rush. The Mormons who arrived
37
James Peter Zollinger, Sutter: The Man and His
Bmpire (New York, 1939), p. 217.
38
George H. Tinkham, History of San Joaquin
County. California (Los Angeles, 1923), p. 51.
43
in San Francisco in 1846 on the Brooklyn under the leader
ship of Sam Brannan established a settlement on the
Stanislaus River and called it New Hope. This was located
on the north bank of the Stanislaus River about a mile
above its junction with the San Joaquin. The settlement
39
did not persist and was abandoned in 1847.
By 1847, the Great Central Valley had changed very
little since the arrival of John Marsh and John Sutter,
the first permanent settlers of the valley. The entire
valley from the Klamath and Cascade mountains in the north
to the Tehachapi Mountains in the south was only sparsely
settled. The routes of travel were still primitive.
To travel from the coastal communities to Sutter’s
Fort in 1839, people usually went by boat. Overland
transportation was difficult, and only a few trails
existed. One of these trails extended from Sutter's Fort
to the rancho of John Marsh. The development of this
route was due partly to the fact that Marsh posed as a
medical doctor. Although John Sutter was usually able
39
Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of California
(San Francisco, 1888), V, 553. Hereinafter cited as
Bancroft, California.
44
to care for the medical needs of his employees, he found
it necessary, on occasion, to send patients to Marsh's
rancho by canoe or mule litter. Trappers and hunters who
were injured also made their way to Marsh’s for treat-
„ 40
ment.
Another trail developed west of Sutter’s Fort to
the Russian settlement at Fort Ross. It was along this
trail that Sutter transported the stock which he purchased
from the Russians in the autumn of 1841. This trail must
not have been regularly used, for in 1843 John Bidwell,
on a trip from Fort Ross to Sutter's Fort, indicated that
, 41
no one knew the way as there was no road.
Travel conditions north of Sutter's Fort, through
the Sacramento Valley, were not much better. John Bid-
well, assisted by Peter Lassen and Joe Bruheim, traveled
through the valley in search of horses lost on the previous
trip from Fort Ross. They traveled north crossing the
^George D. Lyman, John Marsh, Pioneer (New York,
1930), p. 225.
^John Bidwell, "Early California Reminiscences,"
Outwest. XX (January-June, 1904), 185. Hereinafter cited
as Bidwell, "Reminiscences," Outwest.
45
Feather River at Nicolaus. There was no trail to follow;
therefore the riders simply steered their way through the
center of the valley.^
The description of the lack of roads in the Sacra
mento Valley by John Bidwell is contradictory to the
impression John Marsh had of the same region. In a letter
to Thomas ap Catesby Jones, written in 1842, Marsh de
scribed the road from his rancho to the Columbia River as
being good and much traveled. He indicated that the road
was better than some of the roads which existed in south
western United States. Marsh wrote that the road had been
used by the Hudson's Bay Company trappers for many years
and had also been used by Ewing Young in 1837 when he
drove some seven hundred cattle north to the Willamette
Valley
There is no evidence that the opinion of John Marsh
was held by others who had to travel through the Great
Central Valley in the early 1840's. As late as 1846 the
^Bidwell, "Reminiscences," Outwest. XX, 186.
^John Marsh, "Unpublished Letters of Dr. Marsh,"
Overland Monthly, second series, XV (January-June, 1890),
220.
46
routes were difficult to follow. James Clyman, who crossed
the Sacramento Valley in 1846, indicated that the roads
were often nonexistent. He left Gordon’s ranch on Cache
Creek on April 13. He passed the settlement of William
Knight along a small horse trail, the only traveled road
around the San Francisco Bay. He crossed the Sacramento
River at Hardy’s, which was at the junction of the Feather
and Sacramento rivers, and then proceeded up the Feather
River past the farm of Nicholaus Allgeier to the ranch of
William Johnson on the Bear River. The travel was diffi
cult as there was not even a path to follow. At Johnson’s
ranch, there were no tracks leading to, or from, the ranch
during the spring season although this was on the route of
44
the wagon trains from the east.
However opinions differed as to the existence or
condition of the trails, there are definite indications
that permanent routes emerged in the 1840’s on the west
and east sides of the Sacramento River. The party of
Lieutenant George Eramons followed a trail along the west
side of the Sacramento River as it descended the Sacramento
^Camp, James Clyman. pp. 204-205.
47
Valley in 1841. The McMahon-Clyman party from Oregon
followed this same trail southward to Gordon’s ranch on
Cache Creek in 1845. The trail followed by John Charles
Fremont as he ascended the valley in 1845, east of the
Sacramento River, was discernible.
The individual settlers who established themselves
along the rivers and creeks north of Sutter’s Fort
assisted in the development of the major routes of travel.
Although they rarely contacted their neighbors, and travel
was seldom done except in time of need, their presence
attracted later arrivals and routes developed connecting
the farms and ranchos.
The pattern of development in the Great Central
Valley changed with the discovery of gold on January 24,
1848, at Coloma on the American River. A need for better
transportation routes was created by the multitude who
arrived. The quickest way to the gold fields was sought
by the coastal residents. Some went by land around the bay
and Delta region. More went by boat. The needed settlers
who would develop the Great Central Valley had begun to
arrive.
CHAPTER III
INLAND WATERWAYS AS ROUTES
OF TRANSPORTATION
When news of the discovery of gold at Coloma on
the American River reached the coastal towns of Monterey
and San Francisco in the spring of 1848, the residents of
these conanunities began a mass migration to the gold
fields. A few months later the residents of the rest of
California and of much of the Pacific area were being
attracted to the mining area. By the end of 1848 the gold
fever had reached the Midwest, the East and across the
Atlantic; and sailing vessels departed for San Francisco,
the nearest harbor to the gold fields.
When the miners reached San Francisco, their jour
ney was not completed, for in order to reach the diggings
at least another one hundred miles had to be traveled.
Travel by land was difficult as there were few roads.
Overland travel was further lengthened because the roads
48
49
had to avoid the bays and Delta regions. There were no
ferries to assist the miners in crossing the numerous
streams.
Ships which left San Francisco for the mining
regions sailed across San Francisco Bay into San Pablo Bay,
from which they passed through Carquinez Strait into Suisun
Bay. From Suisun Bay the ships could either enter the
Sacramento River and ascend the river to Sacramento City,
the major depot for the northern mining fields, or they
could enter the San Joaquin River and sail to Stockton,
the trade center for the southern raining fields. The
Sacramento River route developed first, for it was on one
of its tributaries, the American River, that gold had been
discovered.
RIVER ROUTES OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
The first miners to ascend the Sacramento River
were the residents of San Francisco who engaged passage on
sloops, lighters and nondescript craft which were available
in the harbor. Those who were unable to find passage on
the larger vessels bought rowboats to make the trip to
50
RIVER ROUTES OF THE
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
REDDINOJ lc
r e i x :b l u f f ^ * j
TEHAMA
BUTTE
Cl TV f
v* /® OROVILLE
b
COLU SA
YUB A(
c i T YJ®MARYSVILLE t *
^fuZA ^
JOHNSON'S
KNIGHTS LANDING^ ^ N I C O L A U S 4/l,eWe<>P
F R E M O N T --VERN0N
1
S A C R A M E N T Oc
< 'm n e s . °
STOCKTON .
GRAYSON
n"r* . 1
FIREBAUGH
51
the interior.''" These early vessels did not ascend the
river above the embarcadero of Sutter's Fort. Navigation
on the rivers north of Sacramento was limited to canoes
and whaleboats which were used by the settlers to aid in
travel and to haul supplies.
By the end of 1848 and the early part of 1849 the
large sailing vessels from all parts of the world began
to arrive in San Francisco. Many of these vessels were
abandoned in the harbor as the passengers and crews sought
passage to the gold fields by whatever means were available
to them. In order to save their ships and cargo, some of
the captains continued their journey up the Sacramento
River only to have their ships abandoned at the interior
ports.
The large seagoing sailing vessels began to
ascend the Sacramento River in early 1849- The schooner
Providence was the first to reach Sacramento following
Sutter's schooner, the Sacramento. The Chilean brig
Eleadora and the Peruvian bark Joven Guipuzcoana were the
9
next to arrive. On May 4, 1849, the bark Whiton
■'"Bancroft, California. VI, 57.
^San Francisco Alta California. May 15, 1850.
52
3
reached Sacramento.
The large seagoing vessels were unable to ascend
the Sacramento River beyond Sacramento City in the winter
of 1848-1849. The winter had been very dry and the
Feather River ran very low. Small sailing vessels could
not sail up the Sacramento above the mouth of the Feather
River, and the cargoes for the northern mines had to be
unloaded at Vernon, which was located at the fork of the
Feather and Sacramento rivers and which was considered the
/ 1
head of navigation.
With the coming of the rains in the spring of 1849,
the ships were able to extend the distance which they
could ascend the rivers. The heavy rains made it possible
for whaleboats to carry passengers up the Bear River to
Johnson*s Crossing. Sailing vessels ascended the Feather
River to the mouth of the Yuba River and unloaded their
cargo at Yuba City.'*
3
Sacramento Placer Times, May 5, 1849.
^Hubert Howe Bancroft, Chronicles of the Builders
of the Commonwealth (San Francisco, 1891), V, 132. Here
inafter cited as Bancroft, Chronicles.
^Bancroft, Chronicles. V, 132.
53
Travel by sailing vessel was extremely slow and
difficult. Small seagoing sailing vessels could ascend
the rivers under favorable conditions, but the swift
currents, shallow water, winding channels and the high
banks and forests often rendered such navigation impracti-
cal. Henry Degroot, who took passage on what he described
as a ’’ nameless, ill-shaped craft with seams gaping omi
nously and shockingly dirty,” left San Francisco for
Sacramento in March of 1849- The first day the ship
crossed San Francisco and San Pablo bays then passed
through the Carquinez Strait into Suisun Bay. The second
day the ship crossed Suisun Bay, and camp was made the
second night at Montezuma City. After entering the Sacra
mento River, progress was slow as the tall trees which
lined the river took the wind out of the sails and forced
the men to warp the schooner up the river by hand. The
( L
trip took six days to complete to Sacramento.
Another difficulty in ascending the Sacramento
River was that the sailing vessels often ran aground.
fk
Henry Degroot, "Six Months in ’49,” Overland
Monthly. XIV (April, 1875), 318-319-
54
James Delavan, who sailed for Sacramento in April of 1849
on the Placer, indicated that the ship was stuck three
days before it was freed so that the trip could be con
tinued. ^
Even though difficulties were incurred, many sail
ing vessels ascended the Sacramento River to deposit their
passengers and cargo. The profits made by the sailing
vessels in carrying passengers and cargo up the Sacramento
and Feather rivers in 1848 and early 1849 encouraged the
introduction of steamboat travel on the interior water
ways. The demand for faster and more regular service and
the affluence of the mining conanunities hastened the
arrival of the steamboat. Although travel by sailing
vessel was slow, it would be incorrect to imply that
travel on the early steamboats was much improved.
The arrival of the first steamboat on the Sacra
mento River, following the pioneer voyage of the Sitka in
g
1847, is much disputed. Steamboats were operating on
^James Delavan, Notes on California and the Placers
(Oakland, 1956), pp. 41-44.
^Bancroft, California. VII, 131.
55
the Sacramento River in the summer of 1849• With the in
crease in demand for passenger space, the small steamers,
such as the Sacramento and Pioneer, were replaced by large
steamers in the fall of 1849- The McKim arrived in San
Francisco in September, and the Senator made its first
trip to Sacramento in November. These large steamers were
able to provide faster and more comfortable service. The
Senator became the favorite because it was able to make
9
the trip from San Francisco to Sacramento in daylight.
Above Sacramento City transportation was greatly
aided by the arrival of steamboats in late 1849 and also
by the heavy rains during the winter of 1849-1850. The
steamer Linda ascended the Feather and Yuba rivers carry
ing freight for a merchant at Barton Bar and made two
trips before the end of 1849•
By 1850 an increased number of sailing vessels and
steamboats ascended the Sacramento River, destined for
the communities above Sacramento City. There were two
steamers plying regularly between Marysville and Sacramento
q
San Francisco Alta California, November 8, 1849.
^Bancroft, Chronicles, V, 133.
by January of 1850. Regularly scheduled steamers left
San Francisco for Sacramento and connected with steamers
which were plying the waters on the Feather and upper
Sacramento rivers. The Senator left San Francisco on
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 4:00 P.M. and arrived
in Sacramento where passengers could connect with the
steamers Linda and Lawrence for Feather River ports. The
steamers Linda and Lawrence ascended the Feather and Yuba
rivers to Linda City which was located some five miles
11
above Marysville. The Governor Dana was also engaged in
trade on the Feather River in 1850 and maintained a daily
schedule from Sacramento touching at Fremont, Vernon,
Nicolaus, Plumas, Hock Farm, Eliza, Yuba City and Marys
ville. Once a week the Governor Dana would travel up the
Feather River to Veazie City some twenty-five miles above
Marysville.^
Although there are indications that the steamboats
were able to ascend the Feather and Yuba rivers above
Marysville, this was accomplished only during periods of
11
San Francisco Alta California. April 2, 1850.
12
Sacramento Transcript. May 16, 1850.
57
high water and then only periodically. For most of the
year the steamboats and sailing ships did not go above
Marysville.
The extension of steamboat service above the mouth
of the Feather River on the Sacramento River began in 1850.
The distance that the steamboat could ascend the river
was determined by the flow of the river and the size of
the steamboat. The head of navigation on the Sacramento
River in April of 1850 was extended to Butte City. The
steamer Star, which made connection at Sacramento with the
13
Senator, reached Butte City by April 11, 1850.
Transportation conditions on the upper Sacramento
River improved by May of 1850; this enabled the Jack Hays
14
to ascend the river as far as Red Bluff. Other steamers
which ascended the upper Sacramento in 1850 did not reach
Red Bluff. The steamboat Colusa, which was built at
Benicia, went up the river to a point some four miles
above Colusa on July 1, 1850; and on August 1, 1850, the
California was able to reach the California Islands which
^San Francisco Alta California. April 11, 1850.
14
Sacramento Placer Times. May 17, 1850.
58
15
are just below Chico Landing. The San Francisco Alta
California printed the steamboat routes in California and
indicated that a steamboat could reach Butler City some
five miles above Tehama and some 234 miles from San Fran
cisco.^
Early transportation by steamer to the settlements
on the upper Sacramento River was not financially success
ful. The merchants of the northern communities owned
their own teams and did not want competition from the
steamboats. Travel above Colusa was limited to periods
of high water. It was not until the Orient was put on the
upper. Sacramento in August of 1851 that the trade made
boating a paying business.
On the upper Sacramento River steamboat transporta
tion was often used in conjunction with stage and wagon
routes. This was particularly true during periods of low
water when the steamers could not go up the Feather River
to Marysville. The main north-south transportation routes
San Francisco Alta California, April 16, 1850;
Will Semple Green, The History of Colusa County, Cali
fornia (Sacramento, 1950), p. 54.
^San Francisco Alta California, August 19, 1850.
59
to the northern mining fields prior to the arrival of the
steamboats was along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. When the steamboats began running to Marys
ville in 1850, most of the passenger travel went by boat
to Marysville and continued by stage to Shasta. Most of
the freight was hauled to the northern settlements over a
route along the west side of the Sacramento River which
was found to be considerably closer.
Travel to the upper Sacramento River communities
by steamboat began again in the winter of 1851. The Orient
made the first trip to Red Bluff in November and the second
trip in January of 1852. Thereafter regular runs of two
trips a week were made to Red Bluff. At first the Orient
had all of the trade and was able to charge $100 a ton for
freight from Sacramento. She also carried passengers.
With the establishment of regular scheduled trips by the
Orient, connection was made at Red Bluff with the stage
coaches from Shasta. Passengers could go to Sacramento
either by steamboat or by stage which went by way of Chico
and Marysville.
As the number of vessels on the interior waterways
increased, the California state legislature took action
60
in 1850 to assure the protection of the rivers as major
routes of transportation. The legislature determined the
following to be navigable streams: the Sacramento River
from its mouth to a point twenty miles north of Cottonwood
Creek, the Feather River between its mouth and Potter*s
Bar, the Bear River from its mouth to the town of Kearny
(previously called Johnson's Crossing), the big slough
which empties into the Feather River from its mouth at
Nicholaus Allgeier's ranch to its source near John Bar
ham's house, the Yuba River between its mouth and a point
eight miles distant, Butte Creek from its mouth to the
house of Samuel Neal, Chico Creek from its mouth to a point
five miles upstream, Deer Creek from its mouth to Peter
Lassen's house and the American River from its mouth to
Mill Dam where John Sutter had a race for a grist mill.^
In order to maintain the navigability of these
rivers and creeks against the obstruction of any man-made
object, the California legislature passed an act which
made it illegal to construct any dam, bridge, ferry or
17
California, Legislature, Acts of the First Cali
fornia Legislature. No. 54 (San Jose, 1850), pp. 330-331.
machinery of any kind on a navigable stream. Any improve
ment on a navigable stream must have the consent of the
court of session of the county or counties in which the
18
improvement was to be made. Ships were seldom able to
reach the points on the rivers and creeks which had been
declared to be navigable by the state legislature. The
Feather River had been declared a navigable stream to
Potter's Bar which was ten miles above Oroville, and yet
regular travel on this river did not go above the mouth of
the Yuba River. The Yuba River had been declared a
navigable stream eight miles above Marysville; yet ships
were not able to ascend any distance beyond Marysville
except during flood conditions. The Bear River had not
been used as a navigable stream since the days of the
arrival of the miners in early 1849 when whaleboats had
gone up the river to Johnson's Crossing (Kearny).
On the upper Sacramento River, no steamboats had
ascended the stream above Red Bluff, reached by the Orient
in 1851, although the legislature had declared the river
18
California, Legislature, Acts of the First Cali
fornia Legislature, No. 52 (San Jose, 1850), pp. 326-327.
62
to be navigable for forty miles above the head of naviga
tion.
Even though the steamboats did not ascend the
Sacramento River beyond Red Bluff, trade to the upper
Sacramento River consnunities continued to grow in 1851.
The success of the Orient brought many other steamboats to
the upper Sacramento River. There were one or two steamers
19
connecting Sacramento with Colusa in the fall of 1851.
Trade above Colusa was still carried by the Orient. The
trade which was carried to the communities of the upper
Sacramento River was usually brought to Sacramento by large
steamer and then transferred to the small steamers which
could navigate in shallow water, but it was possible to go
all the way without transferring of goods. The Comanche
demonstrated this by leaving San Francisco and ascending
the Sacramento River to Tehama, completing the longest
20
trip by steamboat in California.
Although Tehama was reported to be the head of
navigation on the Sacramento River in February of 1852,
19
San Francisco Alta California. November 12, 1851.
20
San Francisco Alta California. January 4, 1852.
63
21
steamboats usually went up to Red Bluff until June.
Travel to Red Bluff usually ended in June and did hot begin
again until the winter rains came. In December of 1852
steamboats were again ascending the Sacramento River to
Red Bluff.
Red Bluff therefore became the head of navigation
on the Sacramento River. Supplies for the miners of the
Trinity and Klamath mountains were carried by steamer to
Red Bluff and then shipped by wagon to Shasta. During the
winter months, when the roads of the Sacramento Valley
were often inundated, the up-river steamers provided the
best means of carrying freight and passengers to the
northern communities. The increase in trade brought many
new steamers to the upper Sacramento River. In the winter
of 1853-54 a larger class of steamboats was engaged in the
up-river trade. These large steamers were able to ascend
the river to Colusa all year and during the high-water
period could reach Red Bluff.
The larger size of the steamers and the increase
in their number caused severe competition to develop on
21
San Francisco Alta California. February 1, 1852.
64
the Sacramento and Feather rivers. Before 1851 there was
sufficient business for all, but after this date there
were more steamboats engaged in the interior trade than
were needed. The exorbitant rates charged for freight
were reduced. Passenger fare of $30.00 from San Francisco
to Sacramento was reduced to $1.00 and some passengers
were carried free, with operators of the vessels hoping to
22
make up the loss by receipts at the ship’s bar.
To offset the competition and to reduce the loss
in fares, a group of ship owners and captains organized the
California Steam Navigation Company in March of 1854. The
rates established by the company were not approved by a
group of Marysville merchants, who therefore organized a
competitive association known as the Citizens Steam Naviga-
23
tion Company of Marysville. The competition lasted until
1871 when the California Steam Navigation Company sold its
24
entire property to the California Pacific Railroad.
22
Jerry MacMullen, Paddle-Wheel Days in California
(Stanford University, 1944), p. 19. Hereinafter cited as
MacMullen, Paddle-Wheel Days.
23
Chico Butte Record, June 24, 1854.
24
Bancroft, Chronicles. V, 143; MacMullen, Paddle-
Wheel Days, p. 23.
65
There was no competition on the river above Marys
ville. Rarely did the steamers ascend the Feather River
above its confluence with the Yuba. The merchants of
Oroville, however, insisted that it was practical to navi
gate the Feather River to Oroville. The merchants would
benefit greatly for a considerable amount of the mountain
trade would be transferred from Marysville to Oroville.
Although a steamboat had made the trip above
Marysville to Hamilton as early as 1851, the first steam
boat will not arrive at Oroville until 1 8 5 7 . The Gazelle
26
was the first steamboat to reach Oroville. Following
the Gazelle the Sam Soule ascended the Feather River to
27
Oroville. However, when the flow of the Feather River
dropped, steamboats did not ascend above Marysville. Even
though the California state senate passed a bill to make
the Feather River navigable to Oroville, the head of
navigation remained at Marysville.
On the upper Sacramento River, attempts were made
to extend navigation above Red Bluff in periods of high
25
Chico Butte Record, January 3, 1857.
2^Chico Butte Record, March 14, 1857.
27Chico Butte Record, March 21, 1857.
66
water. The people of Shasta believed that steamboats could
navigate the Sacramento River as far north as Clear Creek
28
which was forty miles north of Red Bluff. Attempts were
made to clear the Sacramento River of snags above Red
Bluff. On November 2, 1861, the Shasta Courier reported
that the river was navigable to a point some ten miles
below Shasta and indicated that ships would be in operation
29
within thirty days. In January of 1862, the Rainbow,
owned by Major P. B. Reading, made the trip from Red Bluff
to Reading in slightly more than ten hours, carrying two
30
and one-half tons of freight. Although regular scheduled
runs were indicated for the Rainbow above Red Bluff, the
seasonal drop in the flow of the Sacramento River ended the
navigation above Red Bluff.
Steamers continued to ascend the Sacramento River
to Red Bluff. In 1865 the steamers Gem and Lark left
Sacramento every Saturday morning for Red Bluff. Passen
gers paid $10.00 and freight cost $17.00 a ton. This
28
Redding Shasta Courier, March 30, 1861.
29
Redding Shasta Courier, November 2, 1861.
30
Redding Shasta Courier. January 11, 1862.
67
indicates conditions had changed since the days of the
Orient when freight cost $100 a ton for the same dis-
31
tance.
Even though the cost of transportation by steam
boat to the upper Sacramento River communities had been
reduced considerably, river transportation gradually lost
its importance. One of the reasons for this was the fill
ing in of the rivers with mining debris which made travel
impractical except during high water. Another reason was
the competition from stagecoach lines and railroads. The
end of Red Bluff as the major terminal for passenger
service on the upper Sacramento River coincided with the
arrival of the Central Pacific Railroad in December of
1871. The completion of the railroad to Red Bluff con
nected the upper Sacramento Valley communities with Sacra
mento by way of Chico and Marysville. However, the
extension of the line north from Davis on the west side
of the Sacramento River was not completed until the 1880’s.
The communities on the west side of the river thus were
31
State. Territorial and Ocean Guide Book of the
Pacific (San Francisco, 1865), p. 61.
68
still able to benefit from steamboat transportation.
The steamboat was still used to handle freight on
the Sacramento and Feather rivers for many years after
passenger service was no longer profitable. Actually
steamboat travel had not ended on the Feather River with
the dissolution of the California Steam Navigation Company
in 1871. A new company was formed which placed two stern-
wheelers on the Feather River from Marysville to San
Francisco to handle freight. The stern-wheelers were
intended for low water travel, and therefore cargo was not
32
carried by the steamboats but was towed in barges. The
gradual filling in of the Feather River with mining debris
ultimately made it impossible for the steamboats to reach
Marysville. Goods had to be unloaded at Yuba City or on
the east bank of the Feather River and transported to
Marysville by wagon. By 1890 the river was only one-third
of a foot deep during low water stage, and debris created
33
sand bars that made practical navigation impossible.
"^Bancroft, Chronicles, V, 141.
33
Report of the Examining Commission on Rivers and
Harbors to the Governor of California (Sacramento, 1890),
p. 108.
69
The Feather River ceased to be a major route of transporta
tion before the end of the nineteenth century.
The end of traffic on the Feather River did not
close steam navigation in the Sacramento Valley. Freight
traffic remained on the upper Sacramento River until
the second decade of the twentieth century. The Sacra
mento Wood Company, which was formed in 1860 to supply
wood to Sacramento and San Francisco from up river,
was organized in 1882 as the Sacramento Transportation
Company engaged in general river transportation. This
company’s steamers, which towed their cargoes on barges,
had no competition on the Sacramento River until a group
of farmers near Grimes formed the Farmers Transportation
Company. Unlike the Sacramento Transportation Company
which used barges, the Farmers Transportation Company
placed its cargo right on the decks of their steamer
Valleta. Both of the companies made regular runs to
Colusa from San Francisco and Sacramento, beginning in
1901. As late as 1917 the Sacramento Transportation Com
pany was making regular trips twice a week to Colusa
while the Farmers Transportation Company made a
70
ii «. • 34
weekly trip.
Transportation on the Sacramento River above Colusa
to Chico Landing was carried on by stern-wheel steamers
towing a single barge. No cargo was on the decks of the
35
steamboats. The transportation above Chico Landing to
Red Bluff was handled entirely by the Sacramento Trans
portation Company. Service was provided to Red Bluff until
1916.36
While the steamers on the upper Sacramento River
were primarily engaged in handling cargo, passenger service
continued on the lower Sacramento River from San Francisco
to Sacramento. It reached its peak in 1926 with the
arrival of the Delta Queen and Delta King. These two
steamboats continued to provide service on the Sacramento
River until 1941 when they were withdrawn, ending some
34
Charles Davis McComish and Rebecca T. Lambert,
History of Colusa and Glenn Counties, California (Los
Angeles, 1918), p. 78.
35
United States, Congress, House of Representa-
tives, Sacramento River, California, from Sacramento to
Red Bluff, 62nd Cong., 1st Sess., Document 76 (Washington,
1911), p. 10.
3^MacMullen, Paddle-Wheel Days, p. 87.
71
37
ninety-three years of steamboat transportation.
In recent years transportation by water to Sacra
mento has been revived, and in July of 1963 a deep water
channel was scheduled to be completed connecting the port
of Sacramento with San Francisco. This will enable ocean
going vessels to reach Sacramento as they did in the days
of the gold rush.'***
RIVER ROUTES OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
The development of a major route of transportation
on the rivers of the San Joaquin Valley began with the
gold rush. The conditions of the San Joaquin Valley were
unlike those found in the Sacramento Valley. There were
no permanent settlements along the rivers that were depen
dent upon river transportation for supplies prior to the
gold rush, and there were no regularly scheduled vessels
plying these waters.
The establishment of Tuleburg by Charles Weber in
1847 marked the beginning of permanent settlement in the
■^MacMullen, Paddle-Wheel Days, pp. 118-119.
38
Lee Elam and Leo Rosenhouse, ’ ’Deep-Water to
Sacramento,” Westwavs (October, 1962), p. 30.
F R E M O N T
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
S ACRAMENTO
^WOODBRIDGEL,
L O C K EFO R D C(Jio
P S T O C K T O N
G RA Y SO N
E M P IR E
CITY
H I L L S FERRY
o
o
F O R T M I L L E R S Y C A M O R E
P O I N T «
FIR EBAUGH
FR ESN O CITY
Tulare
L oke /
o
o
{ Buena
} Vista
’ Lake
73
San Joaquin Valley. At first the settlement did not
thrive. Charles Weber left Tuleburg during the gold rush
and did not return to his settlement until September of
1848. He established a store which became the major trade
center for the miners south of the Mokelumne River.
Tuleburg, present-day Stockton, was established at
the head of Stockton Slough and, thus, was connected to
the San Francisco Bay area by a water route. Navigation
to Stockton was first accomplished by whaleboats owned by
Weber. By 1849 the waterfront at Stockton was crowded
with sailing vessels. Some of the abandoned ships were
dismantled, and the lumber was used to build the city.
Others had to be burned in order to eliminate the hazard
to navigation.
Sailing vessels had little difficulty in ascending
the San Joaquin River to Stockton. William McCollum, who
arrived in San Francisco in July of 1849, took passage on
a schooner to Stockton and arrived at his destination
four and a half days later. He described the San Joaquin
River as a broad stream of some one hundred to three hun
dred yards wide and navigable for sailing vessels drawing
nine feet of water as far up the river as Stockton.
74
Smaller craft could ascend the river at least twenty miles
39
further to the mouth of the Stanislaus River.
There is evidence that sailing vessels did ascend
the San Joaquin River as far as Grayson which was some
40
seventy-four miles south of Stockton. The effectiveness
of the large sailing vessels upstream from Stockton was
limited, and the development of a regularly scheduled run
to the communities on the upper San Joaquin River and its
tributaries did not occur until the arrival of the steam
boats .
Steamboat travel on the San Joaquin River began
41
in August of 1849, when the Merrimac arrived at Stockton.
By 1850 regular scheduled trips were made by steamboat to
Stockton and communities above. The Captain Sutter and
William Robinson were plying regularly between San Fran
cisco and Stockton twice a week. They connected at Stock
ton with the Georgiana which ascended the San Joaquin
■^William McCollum, California As I Saw It (Los
Gatos, i960), p. 128.
^James Carson, Recollections of the California
Mines (Oakland, I960), p. 86.
^Bancroft, Chronicles. V, 131.
75
to Grayson and Tuolumne City. Connection was also made
with the Etna which ran twice a week to Crescent City
located on the Tuolumne River, some forty miles above its
42
confluence with the San Joaquin River.
In order to assure the protection of the rivers of
the San Joaquin Valley as major routes of transportation,
the California state legislature in 1850 declared the
following rivers to be navigable streams: the San Joaquin
River from its mouth to the Tulare Lake, the Mokelumne
River from its mouth to the first falls and the Tuolumne
43
River from its mouth to Spark's Ferry.
These navigable streams were to see increased
activity beginning in 1852. During the high water period
of 1851-2, steamboats heavily laden with supplies ascended
the Tuolumne River as far as Jacksonville, some sixty
44
miles above the confluence with the San Joaquin River.
42
Stockton Times and Tuolumne Intelligencer.
May 18, 1850.
/ Q
California, Legislature, Acts of the First
California Legislature. No. 54 (San Jose, 1850), p. 331.
44
Otheto Weston, Mother Lode Album (Stanford
University, 1948), p. 34.
76
The ability to ascend the Tuolumne River as far as Jackson
ville seems to have ended with the coming of the low water
season. Regular travel did not ascend the river above
Empire City, located some twenty miles above the confluence
with the San Joaquin. Empire City thus was established as
the head of navigation on the Tuolumne River. It became
a major shipping center as freight for Fort Miller and
Fort Tejon was unloaded there to be transported overland
u 45
by wagon.
In the summer of 1852 freight destined for Fort
Miller could be carried by steamboat many miles closer to
its destination. The rise in the flow of the San Joaquin
River made it possible for the first steamboat to reach
Sycamore Point in June with supplies for the soldiers at
46
Fort Miller. Freight from Sycamore Point was carried to
Fort Miller by wagon over a road built by the army.
The establishment of Sycamore Point as the head
of navigation on the San Joaquin River aided in the
45
Helen Throop Pratt, "Crescent City on the
Tuolumne-~A Prophecy That Failed," California Historical
Society Quarterly. XI (1932), 362.
^Lilboume Alsip Winchell, History of Fresno
County and the San Joaquin Valley (Fresno, 1933), p. 23.
77
transportation of freight to Fort Miller and the settle
ments to the south because it shortened the distance that
the freight had to be carried by wagon. Prior to the
establishment of steamboat service to Sycamore Point,
freight for the southern communities was carried by wagon
from Stockton or was shipped by steamer to Empire City on
the Tuolumne River then transported by wagon to its
destination.
Sycamore Point remained the head of navigation on
the San Joaquin River for many years, but no major settle
ment was ever established there to handle freight and
passengers in transit. Steamers did not go regularly to
this point because trips were made only when freight
arrived at Stockton for Fort Miller. Beginning in 1854,
freight was also carried to Sycamore Point for the newly
created town of Millerton which was located one and a half
miles below Fort Miller and was the county seat of Fresno
County from 1856 to 1874. Freight could reach Sycamore
Point by steamer during periods of high water which usually
lasted from January to June. The rest of the year, the
freight could be shipped by wagon or carried by steamboat
to Fresno City on the Tulare Slough.
78
The beginning of steamer travel to Fresno City,
located on the Tulare Slough some twenty-five miles above
the confluence with the San Joaquin River, started in 1858
with the Henrietta. The first trip from Stockton to Fresno
City took about forty-five hours. The return trip was
made in twenty-six hours. A regularly weekly schedule was
47
considered possible during the high water season. By
May of 1859 the Henrietta was plying regularly between
48
Stockton and Fresno City.
Fresno City grew in importance with the establish
ment of the Butterfield Overland Mail. As one of the
regular stage stops on the route from Los Angeles to San
Francisco, Fresno City was to have an increase in both
freight and passenger service. Feed and other supplies
were carried by steamer to Fresno City for the many
stations along the route of the Butterfield Overland Mail.
Passengers who did not want to ride the stage from San
Francisco could go by steamer to Fresno City and make
connection with the stage there.
^^Marysville Daily News. April 29, 1858.
^^Marvsville Daily News. May 9, 1858.
79
Passenger service to Fresno City by steamboat
declined after 1861. With the elimination of the southern
route of the Butterfield Overland Mail due to the secession
of Texas in 1861, Fresno City lost its importance as a
passenger stop. Freight was still carried to Fresno City
by steamer, and it remained the major distribution center
for the communities to the south until the 1870's when the
railroad was built through the Central Valley.
A plan to extend navigation above Fresno City
through a canal which would connect the San Joaquin River
with Tulare Lake was suggested in 1860 but was never built.
During the flood season of 1861“62 the Alta, a small
stern-wheeler, attempted to reach Tulare Lake through
Tulare Slough and Summit Lake, but it became stranded in
the tules and was abandoned.
Although the Alta did not make the trip from the
San Joaquin River to Tulare Lake, her engine, boiler,
pilot house and castings were appropriated and used to
convert the Moss Andros8 from a schooner to a steamboat
which was to be used on Tulare Lake from 1875 to 1879.
The Water Witch, an abandoned thirty foot schooner, was
brought to Tulare Lake to be used for four years as
80
a hunting and fishing boat and to make a sounding survey
of the lake.^ Nevertheless, neither the Moss Andross
nor the Water Witch helped to establish a route of trans
portation on the Tulare Lake for the people living in the
upper San Joaquin Valley. Until the completion of the
railroad, those people living south of the San Joaquin
River were dependent on wagon and stagecoach for freight
and passenger service.
Although it was not possible to extend steamboat
travel beyond the San Joaquin River to the upper valley,
steamers were used on its northern tributaries for many
years. It was possible to get from the San Joaquin River
into the Sacramento River by way of the Georgian Slough,
and for many years a small amount of cargo and passenger
trade was carried between Stockton and Sacramento. During
periods of high water, the steamers could travel from
Sycamore Point on the upper San Joaquin River to Red Bluff
on the upper Sacramento, a distance of six hundred miles
of fresh water travel through the center of the Great
Central Valley.
49
Jim Reed, "Phantom Lake of the San Joaquin,"
Westwavs (May, 1962), pp. 40-41.
81
Steamboats continued to operate on the lower
tributaries of the San Joaquin River and were able to reach
Empire City on the Tuolumne River as late as the 1870's
50
during high water seasons. The great flood of 1861-62
established steam navigation on the Mokelumne River. The
flood had washed out and had covered the roads with mud
making land-travel to the settlements on the upper Moke
lumne impossible. Dr. D. J. Locke of Lockeford chartered
the Fanny Ann to carry goods from San Francisco to Locke
ford, but it was only able to reach Woodbridge. The Pert
and OK were both able to ascend the Mokelumne River as far
as Lockeford. Although this river was cleared of snags by
the Mokelumne River Improvement Company, the end of naviga
tion came with the closing of the mines and the building
of the railroad in the 1870*s.
Navigation on the Stanislaus River started with
the organization of the Tuolumne and Stanislaus Navigation
Company in 1876 when the Tuolumne City was acquired to
operate on the Stanislaus River. Not only did the company
■^MacMullen, Paddle-Wheel Days, p. 81.
^^MacMullen, Paddle-Wheel Days, p. 45.
82
handle transportation on the river, but the California
state legislature authorized it to clear the river of snags
to improve navigation. Navigation on the Stanislaus River
lasted until 1885.
Impractical as navigation was on the Tuolumne,
Mokelumne and Stanislaus rivers, the upper San Joaquin
River was to be served by the small stem-wheelers for many
years. From 1860 to 1870 steamboats regularly carried
freight and passengers to Sycamore Point on the San Joaquin
River and to Fresno City on Tulare Slough. The cesration
of navigation on the San Joaquin River above Mendota Dam
appears to have occurred in the early 1870's. Since 1871
water from the San Joaquin River had been continuously
diverted for irrigation. The building of the railroad
through the San Joaquin Valley had been extended as far
south as Fresno by 1872, and this provided more regular
and dependable transportation for the residents of the
east side of the valley.
Steamboat transportation continued to be of value
to the residents west of the San Joaquin River for many
^^MacMullen, Paddle-Wheel Days, pp. 82-83.
83
years. The small stem-wheelers made their way regularly
to Watson's Ferry on the Tulare Slough some 249 miles south
53
of Stockton. These steamers carried seed, groceries,
farm machinery, fuel and lumber to the up-river communi
ties and returned with the agricultural products of the
upper valley. The up-stream travel did not last as more
and more of the water was diverted for irrigation. Steam
boat travel was further decreased when the railroad was
built on the west side of the San Joaquin River between
1889 and 1891.
Prior to 1889 the San Joaquin River was the only
outlet for the communities on the west side of the river.
Hill's Ferry, which was some eighty-six miles above
Stockton, was considered to be the head of navigation as
early as 1881. Steamboats continued to ascend the
San Joaquin to Hill’s Ferry until 1896 and occasionally
53
Bancroft's Guide for Travelers by Railway, Stage
and Steam Navigation in the Pacific States, No. 34 (San
Francisco, April, 1872), p. 13.
54
John S. Hittell, The Commerce and Industries of
the Pacific Coast of North America (San Francisco, 1882),
p. 393.
84
traveled another seventy-six miles to Firebaugh.^^ After
1896, the steamers went up-stream to the San Joaquin
bridge, located sixteen miles south of Stockton, only
during high water season. They were able to ascend the
river to San Joaquin City, thirty-five miles above Stock
ton, and to Grayson, nineteen miles further, to take on
cargo destined for Stockton. In the early 1900*s there
was only one steamer with barges engaged in this traffic.
This steamer made two or three trips a week during the
harvest season and in 1916 carried some 23,072 tons of
freight from the up-river communities to Stockton.
The up-river steamboat travel which began in the
1850's, and in time was extended to Sycamore Point on the
San Joaquin River, had ceased to be a major route of
transportation by 1900. Only occasionally was freight
carried above Stockton after 1900. Passenger service had
ended much earlier.
United States, Congress, House of Representa
tives, San Joaquin River. Up to Herndon. 65th Cong.,
1st Sess., Document 332 (Washington, 1917), p. 25.
Sfi
United States, Congress, House of Representa
tives, San Joaquin River. Up to Herndon, p. 26.
85
Stockton remained the terminal for passenger
traffic until 1932 when the J. D. Peters made its final
run on Christmas Day.~*^ With the completion of a deep-
water channel to Stockton in 1933 it was possible for large
ocean-going freighters to reach the interior of the Great
Central Valley as they had in the days of the gold rush.
Sacramento and Stockton, the two major interior
ports which developed during the gold rush to handle pas
sengers and freight, retain their stations as heads of
navigation on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. For
many years, much of the cargo, both passenger and freight
which was landed at the interior ports, had been trans
ported to the newly developed mining cotmrunities by ship;
but the bulk of the cargo had to be transported over land
routes from the water terminals. Roads were chiefly built
over routes where water transportation was not easily
available. For the most part roads tended to supplement
rather than compete with the water routes.
57
MacMullen, Paddle-Wheel Days, p. 118.
CHAPTER IV
TRAILS, WAGON ROADS AND STAGECOACH ROUTES
Prior to the gold rush the residents of the Great
Central Valley traveled overland by horseback on narrow
trails to the settlements located on the coast and along
the rivers of the valley. The trails connecting the
scattered settlements usually followed a route which
avoided the flood waters of the rivers and the rolling
terrain of the foothills. To reach their destination it
was often necessary for the travelers to detour many miles
to avoid natural obstacles. Because of these conditions
the early immigrants who arrived during the gold rush had
no more pressing problem than that of obtaining adequate
land transportation to the gold fields.
For the first miners who reached the gold fields
in the spring of 1848, there were no modern conveyances to
assist them in their travels. In many areas there were
no established trails to the gold fields. The first miners
86
87
to reach the gold fields established the route of travel
which was followed by those who came later. As the number
of miners increased, the gold fields were extended along
the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the
number of trails also increased. Soon trails were
radiating in all directions from the interior settlements.
Many of these early trails never became permanent
routes of travel. They were only used as temporary routes
to reach the mining area and ceased to exist when the
gold fields were abandoned. It was not until the popula
tion of a mining camp increased to a size which required
regularly scheduled mail, freight and passenger service
that a permanent route of transportation developed.
Although the beginnings of this development of new
routes of travel occurred in 1848 with the arrival of the
first miners, it was not until 1849 that a transportation
revolution took place. The news of the gold discovery was
received too late for the Easterner and Midwesterner to
reach California until early 1849. By spring ships from
the East coast were delivering thousands of miners in
San Francisco and the river ports of Sacramento and Stock
ton. Nevertheless, it was not until the summer of 1849
88
that the first overland wagon train of gold seekers reached
the valley.
Although there were wagons in California that had
been brought in by the pre-gold rush immigrants, they were
few in number and did not meet the demand of the multitude
who sought transportation to the gold fields, nor did
they meet the needs of the miners to deliver freight.
Most of the early miners had to walk or go by horseback.
Freight was carried by mule to the mining camps. ^
The arrival of the wagon trains from the East
provided the miners with the needed wagons and oxen to
haul the freight and passengers to the mining areas. The
trails followed by the mule trains to the mining camps
in the foothills were not always of sufficient width to
allow the passage of a wagon. Thus new routes which be
came wagon roads were developed. On the level ground in
the valley, the wagons were able to follow the early
trails on which the major hazard was crossing streams.
Enterprising men established ferries across the streams
■^Peter Dean, "Life and Experience in California,”
MS, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
89
along the routes of travel which greatly aided the trans
portation of both freight and passengers. The routes in
the valley were often altered by the establishment of a
new ferry, especially if the distance to be traveled was
appreciably shortened.
Thus establishment of permanent routes of travel
in the Great Central Valley did not occur until wheeled
vehicles were available to carry the passengers and
freight and not until ferries were also provided for
crossing the major streams. By the 1850's, regular
freight and passenger service was provided over estab
lished routes and on regular shedules. Miners who pre
ferred to go by means other than foot or horseback were
willing to pay a fare of as much as $32.00 to reach their
destination. As new mining camps were established,
freight wagons and stagecoaches extended their service to
the new settlements. In time stage lines were operating -
on routes which extended the entire length of the valley.
ROUTES IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
The residents of the Sacramento Valley near
Sutter's Fort were the first to reach the gold fields in
WAGON ROADS AND STAGECOACH ROUTES
OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
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90
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T M I L L E R T Q N
91
the spring of 1848. They followed the trail along the
southern bank of the American River which led from Sutter’s
Fort to the mill constructed by James Marshall at Coloma.
This trail became the first major route to develop during
the gold rush.
The trail to Coloma became congested with miners
by the summer of 1848 as news of the discovery reached the
coastal towns and a mass exodus to the interior began.
Many of the miners left San Francisco by ship and arrived
at Sutter's embarcadero on the Sacramento River. From the
embarcadero they followed a footpath or horse trail to
Sutter’s Fort and then proceeded along the trail to Coloma.
Those who did not secure passage on a ship made the journey
overland. Although most of the miners were able to acquire
horses to transport themselves, some were forced to walk.
A few were fortunate to have wagons in which to make the
overland journey.
There were two land routes from San Francisco.
One route went around the southern end of San Francisco
Bay and entered the Great Central Valley through Altamont
Pass. The other route was by launch across the bay to
Sausalito and then by horse or on foot by way of San Rafael
and Sonoma to Sutter's Fort. The route through Sonoma was
impassable during the rainy season when the plain between
Putah Creek and the Sacramento River flooded. During the
summer months, however, when the water receded and the
land dried out, passage was made without difficulty. The
crossing of the Sacramento River was the most hazardous
part of the journey. William Tecumseh Sherman, who
traveled to Sutter's Fort in June of 1848, over this route,
found the only means of crossing the Sacramento River was
by an Indian dug-out canoe. This primitive ferry was
still in use when he returned to San Francisco in July of
o
the same year. Later, in 1848, J. C. Davis, J. B. Chiles
and Kit Chiles established a rope ferry across the Sacra
mento River which replaced the former ferry and greatly
aided the travel between the San Francisco Bay area and
Sacramento.3
Sacramento became the major transportation center
of the Sacramento Valley by the end of 1848, with roads
radiating out in all directions. Most of the roads went
2
William Tecumseh Sherman, Recollections of Cali
fomia, 1846-1861 (Oakland, 1945), pp. 36-45.
3Bancroft, California, VI, 462.
93
east to the mining camps along the foothills of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains. During the spring and summer of 1848
the miners had explored and had found gold along the
American River for at least thirty miles on each side of
Sutter's Mill. By the fall of 1848 new discoveries had
drawn the miners as far south as the Tuolumne River and
as far north as Reading's Diggings near Shasta.
Two major north-south routes developed in the
Sacramento Valley during the gold rush period; these con
nected Sacramento with the northern mining camps. At first
these routes were mere horse trails, but in time they
became wagon roads and finally developed into stagecoach
routes. Until the coming of the railroad they were the
main arteries of travel in the Sacramento Valley.
One of these arteries developed along the west
side of the Sacramento River and extended from Washington
(present-day Broderick) to the diggings of Pierson Reading
near Shasta by way of Fremont, Knight's Landing, Colusa
and Tehama. It was used by miners who went north to the
gold fields and by the immigrants who entered California
from Oregon on their way to Sacramento. J. Goldsborough
Bruff, who made the journey southward on this route
94
in 1850, indicated that he passed several travelers, some
with wagons and oxen, some with long trains of pack mules,
horsemen and pedestrians who were going north to the gold
fields.^ The route as described by Bruff terminated at
Broderick, and the Sacramento River was crossed by a small
steam ferryboat which was an improvement over the rope
ferry that had been previously used at this point.^
The development of the route along the west bank
of the Sacramento River between Sacramento and Colusa was
delayed by the introduction of steamboat travel on the
Sacramento River in the early 1850’s. Colusa became the
head of navigation for the large steamers. Steamboat
travel to Colusa was possible during most of the year.
Above Colusa navigation was limited to small steamers, and
only during periods of high water. Travel by water was
preferred over land travel which was rough, uncertain and
sometimes impossible.
Water travel above Colusa was seasonal which neces
sitated the development of stage lines to transport the
^Georgia Willis Read and Ruth Gaines, eds., Gold
Rush: The Journals. Drawings and Other Papers of J. Golds
borough Bruff (New York, 1949), p. 462. Hereinafter cited
as Read and Gaines, Gold Rush.
^Read and Gaines, Gold Rush, p. 462.
95
passengers to the northern gold fields. Colusa, at the
head of low water navigation, developed into the major
passenger terminal on the west side of the Sacramento River
and became the center of stagecoach operations. Until the
development of the stage and mail route from Marysville
to Shasta by Warren Hall and Jared B. Crandall in 1852,
the main artery to the northern mining camps was long the
west bank of the Sacramento River north of Colusa.
Baxter and Company operated the first and leading
stage line out of Colusa to the northern mining camps in
£
the 1850's. Competition was keen, and other stage lines
were established, the most notable being Monroe and Com
pany, established by U. P. Monroe. Baxter and Company
extended their line to Sacramento by way of Knight's Land-
7
ing and Fremont. During periods of high water when the
Yolo Basin was flooded, the stage of Baxter and Company
crossed the Sacramento River at Monroeville and reached
Sacramento by way of Marysville.
The continued use of the west side road from
Sacramento as far north as Shasta is evidenced by the
f i
Redding Shasta Courier, March 12, 1853.
^Redding Shasta Courier. May 7, 1853.
establishment of the D. Fowler and Company stage line in
1858 which operated on a tri-weekly schedule stopping at
Fremont, Knight's Landing, Colusa and Tehama. This was
the mail route for the residents on the west side of the
Sacramento River and was the most direct route to Sacra-
g
mento from the northern settlements. Stage travel along
this route was also indicated by the presence of the Sacra
mento and Knight's Landing Stage Line which operated in
1865 stopping at Woodland and Cacheville. Stage travel
continued on the west side road until the 1870's as indi
cated by the presence of Grant I. Taggart's U.S. Mail
Line which ran from Knight's Landing to Princeton by way
of Colusa.The building of the railroad northward some
ten miles west of the Sacramento River in the 1870's
terminated stagecoach travel as the major means of trans
portation. No longer was it the major means of transporta
tion along the road connecting the river towns located
g
Redding Shasta Courier, August 7, 1858.
q
State, Territorial and Ocean Guide Book of the
Pacific (San Francisco, 1865), p. 69*
•^Bancroft's Guide for Travelers by Railway, Stage
and Steam Navigation in the Pacific States (San Francisco,
January, 1871), p. 70.
97
on the west bank of the Sacramento River.
In the development of the major route along the
west bank of the Sacramento River, certain factors caused
the portion of the route north of Colusa to be used to a
greater extent. The major factors were the establishment
of steamboat travel to Colusa, the establishment of stage
service between Colusa and Marysville (the head of naviga”
tion on the Feather River), the flooding of the Yolo Basin
which made travel between Sacramento and Colusa impossible
during periods of high water and the greater development
of the eastern side of the Sacramento Valley due to mining
operations.
The mining operations along the eastern edge of
the Sacramento Valley attracted the flow of traffic enter
ing the valley to the coiranunities established east of the
Sacramento River. In the early period, travelers on the
west side road crossed the Sacramento River by fording
in order to reach the gold fields along the western edge
* of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Later they crossed by
ferry and traveled east to where they were able to use the
major east side road emanating from Sacramento.
The establishment of ferry service across the
Sacramento River was an integral part of the development
98
of the major transportation routes in the Sacramento
Valley. The early ferries were established to assist the
wagons, horsemen and pedestrians to cross the Sacramento
River in order to reach the gold fields along the eastern
edge of the valley. Many of these early ferries were
make-shift flat boats, rafts or even old wagon beds. In
time these were replaced by rope ferries and steamboats
which greatly improved the conditions of travel.
The earliest ferries developed in the area near
Sacramento. The upper Sacramento Valley was without ferry
service until 1850 when the newly organized county govern
ments licensed ferries to operate at the major crossings
of the Sacramento River. The number of ferries increased
with the introduction of stage travel connecting the major
settlements of the eastern part of the valley with the
west.
The early ferry crossings on the lower Sacramento
River were established at Broderick, Fremont and Knight’s
Landing. These ferries were used by the miners who were
enroute to the gold fields from the San Francisco Bay area
and by those who entered the Sacramento Valley from the
north journeying south along the west bank of the
Sacramento River. These ferries were also used by the
wagon trains and stagecoaches which made the trip to the
northern mining camps along the west bank of the Sacramento
River. At Broderick, the steamboat Alpha provided ferry
11
service across the Sacramento River by 1850. Ferry
service remained at this point until the completion of the
Sacramento and Yolo Bridge in 1857. Traffic out of Sacra
mento which went west to the San Francisco Bay area and
also north along the west side road crossed at this point.
North of Broderick the next major crossing was at
Fremont. In 1849 Jonas Spect laid out the city of Fremont
opposite the mouth of the Feather River, and for a time
this was the head of navigation on the Sacramento River.
Spect established a ferry across the river to Vernon, and
for many years this was a major crossing. Ferry service
remained at Fremont until 1864 when residents left soon
after the termination of post office service at that
12
location. There is no present crossing of the Sacramento
11
San Francisco Alta California, May 11, 1850.
12
Erwin G. Gudde, California Place Names (Berkeley,
1960), p. 108.
River at this point.
One of the earliest crossings of the Sacramento
River was at Knight's Landing, established by William
Knight in 1843. Until just prior to 1849 this was one of
the major crossings for the travelers using the west side
road. As ferries were established upstream from Knight’s
Landing, this crossing lost its importance. However,
ferry service remained until the 1880's for it was on the
major route leading from the upper Feather River communi
ties southwest to the San Francisco Bay area.
With the development of stage transportation in
the upper Sacramento Valley, ferry service was established
between the major stage terminals of the west and east
side of the Sacramento River. The stage route between
Colusa, the major transportation center on the west side
of the Sacramento River, and Marysville crossed the Sacra
mento River by ferry at Meridian or Colusa. For many years
the stages crossed at Winter's Ferry, located on the Sacra
mento River two miles below Butte Creek.
In 1856 W. C. White established a ferry some one
and a quarter miles below Winter’s Ferry and this was used
by the stage companies. J. F. Fouts received a charter
101
to operate a ferry across the Sacramento River at Meridian
in 1860 and A. S. and S. H. Moon received a charter in
1867 to operate a ferry across the Sacramento River near
Colusa. These ferries were the major crossings between
13
Colusa and Marysville. By the late 1870’s the stage
companies usually crossed the Sacramento River at Meridian
and used the old road to Colusa only during periods of
,, . _ 14
high water.
North of Colusa two other main ferry crossings of
the Sacramento River were used. One was at Tehama and the
other at Red Bluff. Tehama became the major crossing for
the stage line of Hall and Crandall which operated out of
Marysville along a route on the east side of the Sacramento
River.
Many other crossings existed on the Sacramento
River, and they were used during the period prior to the
establishment of the railroad in the 1870's. Reference
to many ferries have been found but unfortunately some
could not be located on a map as no specific location
13
History of Sutter County. California (Oakland,
1879), p. 65.
1 »
History of Sutter County, p. 62.
102
was given. The points along the Sacramento at which
ferries were located and verified were near Hamilton City,
Butte City, Princeton, Jacinto and Kirksville. These
ferries remained in use until they were replaced by bridges
or until the lack of business made ferry service at that
point no longer necessary or profitable. As ferry service
on the Sacramento was a major contributing factor to the
location of the connecting routes between the west and
east sides of the Sacramento Valley, so ferries were also
a contributing factor to the development of the major
route which ran along the east side of the valley.
The east side road which led north from Sacramento
began as a horse trail connecting the ranches of the early
settlers of the upper Sacramento Valley with Sutter’s Fort.
During the gold rush period many roads developed as the
gold fields were extended along the streams flowing from
the Sierra Nevada Mountains. One of the earliest roads
went directly north from Sacramento to the rancho of
Nicholaus Allgeier, located on the southeast side of the
confluence of the Feather and Bear rivers. Traffic going
north from Nicolaus either crossed the Feather River by
ferry and proceeded north along the west bank of the river
103
to Sutter's Hock Farm or crossed the Bear River and went
north along the east bank of the Feather River to the
settlement of Theodor Cordua, present-day Marysville.
About a mile south of the rancho of Nicholas
Allgeier the road from Sacramento divided. The east branch
led to William Johnson's rancho on Bear River and the west
branch crossed the Bear River about a mile and a half from
its mouth. The east branch was the major emigrant trail
which crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains by way of the
Truckee River and Donner Pass while the west branch was
part of the northern emigrant trail known as Peter Lassen's
route, which entered the Sacramento Valley near the head
waters of the Feather River. At a point just south of
Nicolaus, the Truckee emigrant road, the road to the
diggings on the Feather River, Peter Lassen's emigrant
route and the trails leading to the gold fields on the Bear
15
River all intersected. The road between Sacramento and
Nicholaus Allgeier*s rancho was generally used as the
15
United States, Congress, Senate, Report of the
Secretary of War. Topographical Memoir accompanying maps
of the Sacramento Valley, Respectfully submitted by G. H.
Derby, lieutenant topographical engineers, 31st Cong.,
1st Sess., Executive Document 47 (Washington, 1850), p. 6.
104
major route north by 1849.
Two roads went north from Nicolaus to Yuba City
and Marysville at the confluence of the Feather and Yuba
rivers. One road followed the east bank of the Feather
River by way of Plumas and Eliza to Marysville, while the
road on the west bank of the Feather River went north to
Hoch Farm and Yuba City. North of Yuba City and Marys
ville the early maps are extremely vague regarding the
route of travel, and it was not until the establishment of
post roads and stagecoach routes in 1850 with their desig
nated terminals that the routes were distinguishable with
any degree of accuracy.
The post road from Sacramento to the settlements
in the upper Sacramento Valley crossed the American River
probably at Child’s Ferry and proceeded to Vernon, located
on the southeast side of the confluence of the Feather and
Sacramento rivers. From Vernon the road went north to
Nicolaus and crossed the Feather River by a ferry operated
by Nicholaus Allgeier. The road then went north along
the west side of the Feather River to Yuba City and Hamil
ton and turned northwest to Samuel Neal's ranch. From
Neal's ranch it continued northwest to Bidwell's ranch
105
and on to Peter Lassen’s ranch on Deer Creek and crossed
the Sacramento River at Tehama continuing north along the
west bank of the Sacramento River to Shasta.
Shasta developed north of Nicolaus along the east bank of
the Feather River by way of Plumas and Eliza to Marysville;
this became the stage route in 1850 from Marysville to
Sacramento. Two stage lines, one operated by Van Brunt
and Johnson and the other by C. W. Durkee and C. G. Sharp,
1 f i
provided daily service on this route in 1850. Marysville
became a major transportation center with stage lines
operating west to Colusa and the communities on the west
side of the Sacramento River, east to the mining camps on
the upper Yuba and Bear rivers, south to Sacramento and
north to Ophir (present-day Oroville) and Bidwell's Bar on
the upper Feather River.
viduals on short routes. In 1852 the stage firm of Warren
Hall and Jared B. Crandall was established and extended
through service from Sacramento to Shasta by way of
Another route to the northern mining camps near
From 1849 to 1852 staging was carried on by indi
August 6 and August 9, 1850.
.106
Nicolaus, Plumas, Eliza, Marysville, Hamilton, Neal’s
ranch, Bidwell’s ranch, Lassen’s ranch, Tehama, Red Bluff,
17
Cottonwood Creek and Clear Creek. Warren Hall and
Jared B. Crandall had purchased the equipment of C. W.
Durkee and C. G. Sharp who had operated a stage line on
1 8
the route between Marysville and Sacramento since 1850.
With the establishment of the stage line of Hall
and Crandall on the route along the east side of the
Feather River, the major route of transportation from
Sacramento to the settlements of the upper Sacramento
Valley came into being. When the California Stage Company
was formed in December of 1853 by consolidating the major
stage lines operating in the Great Central Valley, stage
service continued over the route formerly used by Hall and
19
Crandall.
The route which developed on the east side of the
Sacramento Valley fluctuated with the establishment of
"^San Francisco Alta California, June 7, 1852.
■^H. C. Ward Letters, 1893-1896, James Otey Brad
ford Papers, MS, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
IQ
Sacramento Union. October 23, 1865.
107
ferries and bridges across the many streams which descended
the Sierra Nevada Mountains. At Sacramento, Child’s Ferry
was in operation as early as 1850 across the American River
and was the major crossing for the wagons and stagecoaches
going north to Nicolaus. By 1853 Lisle’s Bridge had been
constructed across the American River at Sacramento.
Although the bridge was to have a record of partial and
total failure due to floods during the 1850*s and 1860's,
it remained the major crossing point on the stage road
20
north to Nicolaus.
North of Nicolaus there were two routes of travel.
One route crossed the Feather River by the ferry operated
by Nicholaus Allgeier and went north on the west side of
the Feather River. The major route went north from
Nicolaus to Marysville on the east side of the Feather
River. It crossed the Bear River by ferry at Oro which
was located three miles above the mouth of the Bear River.
This was known as Barham's Crossing.
East of Barham's Crossing three other crossings of
the Bear River were established during the early 1850's.
on
California, Department of Public Works, Cali
fornia Highways and Public Works. Official Journal of the
Division of Highways (Sacramento, 1950), p. 117.
108
During periods of high water the route north from Sacra
mento to Marysville by way of Nicolaus was inundated; the
wagons and stagecoaches had to cross the Bear River above
Barham’s Crossing. One of the most frequently used was
at the ranch of William Johnson which was located three
miles east of Wheatland. The ferry service at Barham's
Crossing and Johnson's Crossing was replaced by toll
bridges in 1851.^
North of the Bear River crossings, ferry service
was provided across the Yuba River at Marysville. Ferry
service was also established at various points on the
Feather River, the principal ones being Bidwell's Bar,
Long’s Bar, Ophir (present-day Oroville), Hamilton and
Marysville. These ferries were the major means of cross
ing the Feather River until 1853 when George M. Hanson
received a license to build a toll bridge connecting
22
Marysville and Yuba City. This bridge, like so many of
the early bridges, had a record of failures. The most
21
History of Sutter County, p. 65.
22
Peter J. Delay, History of Yuba and Sutter
Counties, California (Los Angeles, 1924), I, 231.
109
frequent cause of failure were the floods.
Flood waters remained a hazard on the route north
of Sacramento for many years. Across most of the large
streams ferry service was the major mode of transporta~
tion. Where the rivers had cut deep gorges in the terrain
making it difficult to descend and ascend the steep banks
of the river, bridges were'built on the main routes of
travel. The early bridges were built from native materials
and in most cases were not able to withstand the weight of
the traffic which crossed or the pressure of water and
debris which accumulated on the upstream side of the
bridge during flood stage.
During the period from 1850 to 1875 the first
bridges and ferries were built by private enterprise; and,
as the travel increased, the profits from these early toll
ferries and bridges encouraged many others to establish
ferries and to construct bridges in order to attract the
traveler and thus obtain the tolls. Roads were improved
leading to the ferries and bridges in order to attract
the traffic; but by the middle of the 1850’s the major
route had been established, and it was only during periods
of high water that alternate routes were desired. When the
110
flood waters receded the stagecoaches and wagon trains
returned to the established route. This fluctuation in
the route between the high and low water crossings remained
for many years. It was not until the expansion of the
railroad in the Sacramento Valley that substantial bridges
were built with eastern steel and that the major crossings
of the rivers were to remain relatively in the same locale.
The routes north from Sacramento established by the stage
coach lines in the early 1850's remained the major arteries
of travel to the coiranunities of the upper Sacramento Valley
during the 1860's and 1870’s. The major passenger termi
nals on the stage lines remained at Nicolaus, Marysville,
O ' X
Oroville, Chico, Tehama, Red Bluff and Shasta.
The present route east of the Sacramento River
followed by the railroad and the modem highway varies
only slightly from the route established by the stage lines
during the gold rush period. This was not the case in the
23
For a general description of the route see
M. M. Shelley, ed., Shelley's U.S. Railway, Steam Naviga
tion and Mining Guide to the Gold Regions (New York,
October, 1856), p. 10; Sacramento Union, January 1, 1861;
State. Territorial and Ocean Guide Book of the Pacific
(San Francisco, 1865), p. 104.
Ill
development of the major route of transportation south of
Sacramento through the San Joaquin Valley.
ROUTES IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
The major routes of transportation in the San
Joaquin Valley that developed during the gold rush period
and remained the major arteries of travel until the build
ing of the railroad in the 1870's were not located in the
center of the valley where the railroad and modem highway
now parallel each other. The early roads were located on
the eastern and western edges of the valley extending from
Stockton southward to the Tehachapi Mountains at the
southern extremity of the valley.
A major road developed along the eastern edge of
the valley because freight from Stockton was destined for
the mining camps located in the foothills of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains and also because of the difficulty in
crossing the many streams which flowed into the San Joaquin
River from the east. A major west side road developed
along the foothills of the Coast Range Mountains in order
to avoid the flooded regions of the upper San Joaquin
Valley notably in the area of the Kern, Buena Vista and
112
F R E M O N '
WAGON ROADS AND STAGECOACH ROUTES
OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
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Tulare lakes.
The emergence of the major north-south routes of
travel in the San Joaquin Valley resulted from the gold
discovery. One of the earliest routes to develop in the
San Joaquin Valley was the route which the residents of
San Francisco used to reach the gold fields in the spring
and summer of 1848. The road began at San Francisco and
went south to the pueblo of San Jose then proceeded to
Mission San Jose, rancho of Robert Livermore, and entered
the San Joaquin Valley through Livermore Pass. The road
crossed the San Joaquin River near the present-day cross
ing of the Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge and turned
south to Stockton. This route was the most widely used
road from Sacramento and Stockton to the coastal cities.
To facilitate travel a ferry was established by John Doak
and Jacob Bonsell in 1849. The ferry service passed
through the hands of many owners and finally became the
property of William T. Moss in 1856 and was most frequently
o /
referred to as the Moss Ferry.
George H. Tinkham, History of San Joaquin County.
California (Los Angeles, 1923), p. 93.
114
From the crossing of the San Joaquin River the
road went north near French Camp to Stockton. Between
Stockton and Sacramento the road crossed the Calaveras
River at Dr. I. C. Isbel's cabin and proceeded north to
Land's Ferry on the Mokelurane River. This crossing of the
Mokelumne River was mentioned by Fremont in 1844 and was
used by Captain Weber in his journeys between Stockton
and Sutter's Fort. A ferry was established in 1849 by
John W. Laird a few miles west of Lockeford; it became a
popular ferry on the direct route between Sutter's Fort
and San Jose via Stockton. John Laird sold the ferry in
1850 to Staples, Nichol and Company and the ferry took the
25
name of Staples' Ferry.
From the crossing on the Mokelumne River at
Staples' Ferry the road, often referred to as the Upper
26
Sacramento Road, continued north to Sacramento. The road
by way of Staples' Ferry remained the major stagecoach
25
Tinkham, History of San Joaquin County, p. 95.
^Carl I. Wheat, The Maps of the California Gold
Region. 1848-1857 (San Francisco, 1942): Map 100, J. J.
Jarves, A Correct Map of the Bav of San Francisco and the
Gold Region (Boston, 1849); Map 161, William A. Jackson,
Map of the Mining District of California (New York, 1850).
route north from Stockton until 1854 when a more direct
route was established; this crossed the Mokelumne River
at Woods' Ferry which was located at Woodbridge. After
1854 the major route from Stockton to Sacramento went by
way of Woods' Ferry except during periods of high water
when the Staples' Ferry route was used.
Travel between Stockton and Sacramento was depen
dent on ferry service until 1850 when the ferries were
replaced by bridges which made travel safer, faster and
more reliable. The Staples, Nichol and Company built a
toll bridge across the Mokelumne in 1850 to handle wagons
and stages. In 1858 Jeremiah Woods built a toll bridge
across this river at Woodbridge. Before the end of the
1860's bridges had been built across the Mokelumne River
27
at Staples* Ferry, Woodbridge and Lockeford.
South of Stockton for a distance of some three
hundred miles to the Tehachapi Mountains three major
routes of travel developed in the San Joaquin Valley
during the pre-railroad period. These routes were the
El Camino Viejo, the Butterfield Overland Mail and the
27
Tinkham, History of San Joaquin Countv. p. 96.
116
Stockton-Los Angeles Road. The route most frequently used
by travelers entering the San Joaquin Valley from the
south on their way to the gold fields and also by those
who arrived at Stockton intending to travel south to the
gold fields of the Mother Lode and later to the gold fields
of the Kern River was the Stockton-Los Angeles Road. For
a period of twenty-five years the Stockton-Los Angeles
Road was the only road which traversed the entire length
of the valley. It was in use as early as 1850 as indicated
by the exploration of Lieutenant George Derby who reported
that a road ran from Los Angeles by way of Tejon Pass and
crossed the Kern River some thirteen miles above its
junction with Kern Lake. The road continued through the
valley east of the lakes and extended as far north as the
28
mining district on the Stanislaus River. The Stockton-
Los Angeles Road remained the major artery of travel until
the railroad was built through the valley in the 1870’s.
The Stockton-Los Angeles Road, often referred to
as the Millerton Road or the Stockton-Visalia Road,
28
United States, Congress, Senate, Report of the
Secretary of War. In Compliance with a resolution of the
Senate, a report of the Tulare Valley, made by Lieutenant
Derby, 32nd Cong., 1st Sess., Executive Document 110
(Washington, 1852), p. 9.
117
followed along the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains
with many side roads branching off to the mining camps
located in the foothills. The road followed many differ
ent routes prior to the establishment of the stagecoach
lines in the 1850*8, especially in the region between
Stockton and the military post of Fort Miller located on
the San Joaquin River near Friant.
Following the establishment of Stockton as the
major supply depot for the southern mines, a wagon road
developed leading southeasterly to Knight’s Ferry estab
lished by William Knight on the Stanislaus River in 1849-
From Knight's Ferry the road turned south keeping close to
the foothills to LaGrange on the Tuolumne River. The route
by way of LaGrange was used until 1852 when a ferry was
established by Gallant Duncan Dickenson on the Tuolumne
River some seven miles east of Waterford.
Between Dickenson's Ferry and Stockton two other
routes developed during the 1850*s which replaced the
original artery of travel to the southern mines via
Knight's Ferry. The establishment of Fort Miller on the
San Joaquin River created a need for a shorter wagon road
to the south. The supplies were hauled in large wagons
118
using as many as twenty-four animals to pull the load.
Dr. L. A. Chalmers, who settled at Collegeville about
eight miles southeast of Stockton in 1850, was able to get
the traffic from Stockton directed past his ranch. This
route became the major artery of travel to Fort Miller and
29
the southern mines.
The route past Chalmer’s Ranch went southeast to
Lone Tree and crossed the Stanislaus River at Heath and
Emory’s Ferry which was located some twenty-seven miles
south of Stockton and six miles above the mouth of the
Stanislaus River. From the Heath and Emory Ferry the
road continued southeast to Dickenson’s Ferry on the
Tuolumne River. The road from Stockton to Dickenson’s
Ferry became impassable during the flood years and usually
during the winter months, so a road was developed which
went directly south from Stockton to French Camp via
Castoria. From French Camp the road crossed the
29
H. E. Rensch, E. G. Rensch, and Mildred Brooke
Hoover, Historic Spots in California: Valiev and Sierra
Counties (Stanford University, 1933), p. 341. Hereinafter
cited as Rensch, Historic Spots in California.
30
George H. Tinkham, History of Stanislaus County.
California (Los Angeles, 1921), p. 77.
Stanislaus River at Clark’s Ferry and continued south to
Tuolumne City. It crossed the Tuolumne River and then
turned east along the south bank of the Tuolumne River via
Empire City to Dickenson's Ferry where it joined the old
31
road. The road reached the Merced River and crossed at
one of three ferries, either Phillip's, Young's or
Murray's, located within two miles downstream from Merced
Falls. With the establishment of Snelling in 1851, some
six miles below Merced Falls, travel was diverted to
< r
Snelling which was the Merced County seat from 1855 to
1872.
From the crossing of the Merced River, the
Stockton-Los Angeles Road continued south along a route
which approximates the boundary between Merced and Mari
posa counties. Portions of the road were used to determine
the boundary of Merced County when it was organized in
32
1855. The Stockton-Los Angeles Road was the only
31
Wheat, The Maps of the California Gold Region,
1848-1857: Map 302, George H. Stoddard, Britton and Rey's
Map of the State of California (San Francisco, 1857).
32
John Cameron McCubbin, ’ ’The Stockton-Los Angeles
Road; with emphasis upon that part which ran between the
Kings and Kaweah River," John Cameron McCubbin MS, Cali
fornia State Library, Sacramento, California. Hereinafter
cited as McCubbin MS, California State Library.
120
north-south route to pass through Madera County during the
1850's and I860’s. The road crossed the Chowchilla River
just west of the point where the Merced-Mariposa boundary
line intersects with Madera County. From the crossing at
the Chowchilla River, often referred to as Newton's Cross
ing, the road continued south to the San Joaquin River
which was crossed at Millerton.
The Stockton-Los Angeles Road consisted of two
parallel roads some three to five miles apart extending
from the San Joaquin River to Four Creeks about fifty-four
miles to the southeast. The Upper Road, also referred to
as the Upper Detour, was used in the summer but, when the
rains came, the traffic was diverted to the Lower Road or
33
Detour which was practically free of mud.
The Lower Road crossed the San Joaquin River about
two miles below the upper crossing, which was at Converse
Ferry, and went south passing over the city limits of
modem Sanger and Reedley and crossed the Kings River at
Poole's Ferry. The crossing at Poole's Ferry was used
until 1855 when James Smith established a ferry on the
^McCubbin MS, California State Library; Wallace
Smith, Garden of the Sun (Los Angeles, 1939), pp. 151-153.
121
a /
Kings River three miles below Poole's Ferry. The Lower
Road continued south from the crossing at Kings Ferry and
joined the Upper Road north of Woodsville and near the
foot of Venice Hills.
The Upper Road crossed the San Joaquin River at
Millerton and went south passing about one mile east of
Centerville and crossed the Kings River at Scottsbury
Ferry. Scottsburg, washed out in the flood of 1861-62,
was located across the Kings River from Centerville. The
Upper Road continued south passing east of Smith Mountain
and then turned southeast passing between the settlements
of Cutler and Orosi. It joined the Lower Detour north of
Woodsville.
The original eastside road from Stockton to Los
Angeles did not go through Visalia but crossed the Kaweah
River at Woodsville about seven miles east of Visalia.
From Woodsville the road went southwest near the city
limits of Lindsay to the Tule River station located in
the city limits of Porterville. From Porterville the road
34
McCubbin MS, California State Library.
"^McCubbin MS, California State Library.
122
went south and crossed the White River at Steckner's Ferry
which was located at the modem town of White River. From
the crossing at White River the road continued south
crossing Posey Creek. The road turned southwest from the
crossing at Posey Creek and passed through Oil City and
Oil Center and crossed the Kern River at Gordon’s Ferry
located about five miles northeast of Bakersfield. From
Gordon's Ferry the road went southeast to Kern River
Slough and then to the Sink of Tejon leaving the valley
by way of Old Tejon Pass which was located about fifteen
3 6
miles to the east of Grapevine Pass. The road did not
run directly south from Bakersfield along the route now
followed by the modem highway because of two large bodies
of water, the Kern and Buena Vista lakes, which created
a vast swampy region extending from the foothills in the
east and north from the mountains to Bakersfield.
36
United States, Congress, House of Representa
tives, Report of the Secretary of War, Report of Explora
tions in California for Railroad Routes to connect with the
Routes near the 35th and 32nd Parallels of North Latitude,
Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, Corps of Topographical
Engineers. 1853. 33d Cong., 2nd Sess., Executive Docu
ment 91 (Washington, 1856), p. 21. Hereinafter cited as
Williamson, Report.
123
In 1853 Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, in attempting
to find the best railroad route through the passes in the
southern San Joaquin Valley, found the major wagon route
to Los Angeles went through Old Tejon Pass. Grapevine
Pass through which the modem highway, U.S. 99, passes
37
had only a pack trail and was not used as a wagon route.
With the establishment of Fort Tejon in Grapevine Pass in
1854, the wagon road was diverted away from the Old Tejon
Pass and entered the San Joaquin Valley by way of Grape
vine Pass along a route which approximates U.S. 99-
The Stockton-Los Angeles Road, although originally
a wagon road, developed into the major route of the stage
coach lines operated in Central California from the 1850's
to the 1870's. By the late 1850's a vast stagecoach system
had developed in Central California. In the region between
Stockton and Fort Miller, later called Millerton, the early
stagecoach route went east from Stockton to Knight's Ferry
on the Stanislaus River and followed the old wagon road
south by way of Merced Falls to Millerton. The earliest
stagecoach service was provided by Maurison and Company
37
Williamson, Report, p. 21.
124
which ran a stage every other day from Stockton to the
38
Stanislaus mines in June of 1849. Stage service was
limited at first to the gold regions of the Mother Lode
with service provided as far south as Mariposa. With the
gold discoveries on the Kern River in 1854, stage service
was extended to Visalia by way of Millerton. The gold
rush to the Kern River area in 1854-55 also brought stage
service from Los Angeles into the San Joaquin Valley by
way of Fort Tejon as far north as White River. These
stage lines operated over the old Stockton-Los Angeles
wagon road.
In the 1860's there were major changes in the route
of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road. The stage route no
longer went east from Stockton to Knight's Ferry and south
along the edge of the foothills to Merced Falls. The main
stage road went directly south from Stockton to Heath and
Emory's Ferry, near Ripon on the Stanislaus River, to
Dickenson Ferry, seven miles east of Waterford on the
Tuolumne River, to Snelling on the Merced River. From
Snelling the stagecoach route went east to Homitos and
38
San Francisco Alta California, June 28, 1849.
125
then turned south to Millerton, Kings River (Centerville)
3 9
and Visalia along the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.
In 1868 Congress established a new mail route from
Stockton to Millerton by way of French Camp, Tuolumne
City, Paradise City, Empire City, Hopeton which was six
miles west of Snelling, P. Y. Welch's store (Plainsburg)
and on to Millerton. This was the route of the Sillman
Stage Line which ran from Stockton to Millerton in 1870
40
and later extended its line to Visalia. During the
1870's, the P. Bennett Stage Line operated over the route
from Stockton to Visalia by way of French Camp, Snelling,
Homitos, Millerton and Centerville, covering stations of
the original Stockton-Los Angeles Road.
In the region south of Visalia, stagecoach service
was provided by David Alexander and Phineas Banning who
ran a line from Los Angeles to Fort Tejon and extended
39
Edward H. Hall, The Great West: Railroad. Steam
boat and Stage Guide and Handbook (New York, 1866), p. 173.
^■^Millerton, Fresno Expositor. July 20, 1870.
^ Bancroft's Guide for Travelers bv Railway. Stage
and Steam Navigation in the Pacific States (San Francisco,
May, 1872), p. 65.
the line as far as White River during the Kern River gold
rush. The most effective stagecoach service between Los
Angeles and Visalia was provided by the Butterfield Over
land Mail. By 1872, with the building of the railroad
down the center of the valley, the stage lines began
operating from the rail terminals and connected Los Angeles
with the north by a route which passed through Bakersfield
42
and Fort Tejon.
It was during the early 1870's that the route along
the eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley known as the
Stockton-Los Angeles Road began to lose its importance and
the main route of travel moved out into the center of the
valley. While it existed as a main route of travel, por
tions of it served as the route of two transcontinental
stage lines, the Butterfield Overland Mail and the Stock
ton, Albuquerque and Kansas City Mail, which operated in
California during the late 1850's and early 1860*s.
The demands of the miners for a more efficient
mail service to California from the eastern states was
42
William Harland Boyd, "The Stagecoach in the
Southern San Joaquin Valley, 1854-1876," Pacific Historical
Review, XXVI (1957), 366-371.
127
responsible for the establishment of the Stockton, Albu
querque and Kansas City Mail line. A contract was given
to Jacob Hall in May of 1858, and the route followed the
Stockton-Los Angeles Road from Stockton to Visalia where
/ Q
it joined the route of the Butterfield Overland Mail.
That portion of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road which
extended south from Visalia to Grapevine Pass was used by
the Butterfield Overland Mail when service began over the
southern route in 1858. The Butterfield Stage left the
Stockton-Los Angeles Road a few miles north of Farmersville
and turned west to Visalia. From the Butterfield station
at Visalia the road went northwest to Cross Creek and
reached the next station, at Whitmore's Ferry, on the
Kings River. This station was later called Kingston.
When the Kings River was in flood state, the Butterfield
stages could not cross at Kingston; therefore they had to
continue north from Visalia on the Stockton-Los Angeles
Road and cross the Kings River at Smith's Ferry. From
Smith’s Ferry the Butterfield stage followed a road which
went west to Fresno City on Fresno Slough.
43
LeRoy Hafen, The Overland Mail, 1849~1869
(Cleveland, 1926), pp. 115-116.
128
The main stage road from Kingston went northwest
for a distance of seventeen miles to Elkhorn Station which
was located near the town of Burrell. From Elkhorn Station
the road continued northwest passing two miles east of
the towns of Helm and San Joaquin, reaching Fresno City,
a town which was located about a mile and a half north of
Tranquility. From the crossing of the slough at Fresno
City the mail road went west to avoid the flood water of
the Fresno Slough and reached Firebaugh’s Ferry nineteen
miles northwest of Fresno City. The next station was
F. T. F. Temple’s Ranch.
From Temple’s Ranch the mail road left the river
to Lone Willow. From Lone Willow the road ran almost
directly west to a crossing of Los Banos Creek near the
town of Los Banos. The road continued west to San Luis
Station and left the San Joaquin Valley by way of Pacheco
44
Pass.
The route established by the Butterfield Overland
Mail continued to be used in the San Joaquin Valley long
44
Roscoe P. Conkling and Margaret B. Conkling,
Butterfield Overland Mail, 1857-1869 (Glendale, California,
1947), II, 272-297.
after March of 1861 when the stages of the Butterfield
line ceased to operate. One of the earliest to operate a
stage line on the route of the Butterfield Overland Mail
was Amos 0. Thomas whose Telegraph Stage Company ran
between Visalia and Gilroy beginning in 1863. Stage con
nections were made at Visalia for travel to Los Angeles
and at Gilroy for travel to San Jose and San Francisco.
The Telegraph Stage Line of A. 0. Thomas was known as the
Roberts and George's Telegraph Stage Line in 1871 and
operated from Gilroy over the route of the Butterfield
Overland Mail to White River where connection was made with
45
stages operating north to Bakersfield. The Telegraph
Stage Line connected at Visalia with P. Bennett's Stage
Line operating between Visalia and Homitos. By 1873 with
the building of the railroad through the San Joaquin
Valley, the stage line to Visalia from Gilroy no longer
gave service. The Telegraph Stage Line, under the control
of H. M. Newhall, extended its service from Gilroy to
Firebaugh's Ferry on the San Joaquin River. From Fire-
gaugh's Ferry a road developed which ran east to the
^ Bancroft's Guide for Travelers by Railway. Stage
and Steam Navigation in the Pacific States (San Francisco,
September, 1871), p. 48.
130
railroad. The major artery of travel no longer followed
the Butterfield Overland Mail route from the coastal cities
to Los Angeles; this was indicated by the fact that the
old road between Watson’s Ferry on the Fresno Slough and
Hawthorne's Station, located about one and a half miles
southeast of San Joaquin, was abandoned by order of the
46
Board of Supervisors of Fresno County in 1873.
The road developed by the Butterfield Overland
Mail, and used by other stage lines after the Butterfield
stages no longer operated, was not the earliest road to
develop on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. In the
early 1800’s a road developed along the foothills of the
Coast Range Mountains and was used by travelers who wished
to reach the San Francisco Bay region from Los Angeles and
yet avoid the coastal settlements. It was known as the
47
El Camino Viejo.
From the Los Angeles area the El Camino Viejo
entered the San Joaquin Valley through San Emigdo Canyon
46
Paul E. Vandor, History of Fresno County, Cali
fornia (Los Angeles, 1919), p. 319-
47
F. F. Latta, El Camino Viejo a Los Angeles
(Bakersfield, 1936), see appendix for map of route.
and skirted the eastern slope of the Coast Range Mountains.
It passed some six miles east of Coalinga and left the
San Joaquin Valley through Patterson Pass southwest of
Tracy. This route was in use in the early Spanish period
and developed into a wagon road with the arrival of the
American miners during the gold rush. Travelers who
entered the southern San Joaquin Valley through Old Tejon
Pass and Grapevine Pass also used the west side road in
order to avoid the crossing of the Kern River and other
streams along the eastern edge of the valley. Travel on
the west side of San Joaquin Valley north of Firebaugh
increased during the 1870’s due to growth in population
and the increase in traffic south of Stockton. A road
developed along the west bank of the San Joaquin River
which paralleled El Camino Viejo. From Stockton to the
area of Los Banos where the road joined the route of the
Butterfield Overland Mail, the location of the road is
made difficult because it varied according to the seasonal
changes in the river country. South of Stockton the road
could have crossed the San Joaquin River at Moss' Ferry,
about five miles west of Manteca; it could have crossed at
Grayson's Ferry, located about three miles up the Tuolumne
132
River, or it could have crossed at Hill's Ferry at the
mouth of the Merced River some three miles east of Newman.
After reaching the west bank of the San Joaquin River the
road stayed close to that bank of the river and passed
48
San Luis Camp some seven miles north of Los Banos.
On this west side road much of the cargo shipped
from Stockton passed to Visalia. South of Los Banos the
Stockton-Visalia Road followed the Butterfield Overland
Mail route to Firebaugh and on to Fresno City, Elkhorn
Station and Visalia. There is no evidence of major ship
ping occurring on the route along the western edge of the
San Joaquin Valley south of Firebaugh to the Los Angeles
area. All of the traffic seems to have followed the route
of the Butterfield Overland Mail to Visalia and then south
ward to Los Angeles by the Stockton-Los Angeles Road. Even
though the west side road never became a major artery of
travel in the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley,
it remained in use as an emigrant route from the south
until the 1870's when the completion of the railroad
through the center of San Joaquin Valley caused the route
to end.
48
Rensch, Historic Spots, p. 187.
CHAPTER V
THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD
The development of railroad transportation in the
Great Central Valley came as a result of the demands of
the residents of California for an improved overland com
munication system with the eastern portion of our nation.
During the 1850's steamboats were plying the rivers of the
Central Valley making connections with stage and freight
lines which enabled the residents to enjoy a fairly ade
quate system of local transportation. Communication with
the east was provided also by ship, but this was unsatis
factory, often requiring a trip of three months and not
providing any direct access to the interior of the country.
Even the development of a transcontinental stage route
did not completely meet the demands for a more efficient
communication system. The building of a transcontinental
railroad was considered to be the best solution to the
problem.
133
134
It was not until 1862, after the South had seceded
and the country was engaged in a Civil War, that Congress
passed the Pacific Railroad Act. By this time the first
railroad had been constructed within California, and a new
method of transportation had emerged. As the rails were
extended to connect the existing communities, new routes
of transportation developed supplementing the old roads
used by the stage and freight companies.
The days of stagecoach travel, over routes con
necting the early mining coimnunities of California, were
numbered. In a period of less than thirty ye^rs, the
major routes of travel were altered with the building of
the railroad. Although stage coaches and freight wagons
continued to operate for many years after the construction
of the railroad, their routes were no longer of prime
importance but instead were subsidiary to the railroad.
The railroad enabled the development of vast areas
of the Great Central Valley which had remained unsettled
during the Gold Rush period. Pioneers and land speculators
were now encouraged to occupy areas of the Great Central
Valley which had been considered valueless because of the
lack of transportation. Not only did the railroad provide
135
transportation for existing enterprises in the already
established communities, it brought about new business by
creating new towns which became major centers of trade
for the inhabitants of the Central Valley.
In the northern portion of the Great Central
Valley, known as the Sacramento Valley, the railroads were
constructed to connect existing communities located on the
east side of the Sacramento River. On the west side of
the Sacramento River, the railroad was built along a route
which bypassed many of the early communities established
as steamboat landings or ferry crossings.
The influence of the railroad in developing an
entirely new route of transportation was even more evident
in the southern portion of the Great Central Valley, known
as the San Joaquin Valley. The early settlements in the
San Joaquin Valley were located along the foothills of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains. To build a railroad to connect
these isolated comnunities would have greatly increased
the cost of railroad construction. The railroad was built
on the most direct route through the San Joaquin Valley in
an area void of settlement.
136
RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
The first railroad to operate in California was
the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company organized on
1
August 4, 1852. Under the direction of Theodore Judah,
this first railroad was built from Sacramento eastward to
2
Folsom and was opened for operation in February, 1856.
It was the intent of the builders of the Sacramento Valley
Railroad to continue their line eastward to the Middle
West by way of the rich mining regions of Nevada or through
the Sacramento Valley by way of Marysville. By the time
the railroad had reached Folsom, however, company finances
had been exhausted and construction stopped. During the
first years of its existence, the Sacramento Valley Rail
road did a profitable business hauling supplies to the
mines and connecting at Folsom with many stage lines oper
ating from that city to various communities along the
foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
^ Alb an Nelson Towne, Letter to Hubert Howe Ban
croft, October 9, 1886, H. H. Bancroft Collection. MS,
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Hereinafter cited as Towne, Bancroft Collection. MS.
2
Sacramento, The Times, February 2, 1856.
137
RAILROAD ROUTES OF THE
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
REDDING^, *
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138
The failure of the Sacramento Valley Railroad
Company to extend a line to connect Folsom with Marysville
resulted in the formation of the California Central Rail"
road Company on April 21, 1857. Work began on the Cali
fornia Central Railroad in 1858 and by January 1, 1859, the
3
first five miles of the railroad were nearly completed.
The railroad was open for service to Lincoln by November,
4
1861. North of the terminus, passengers and freight were
carried to Marysville by stagecoach and wagon.
The California Central Railroad did not build north
of Lincoln. Construction from that point north was carried
on by the Yuba Railroad Company organized November 17,
1862."* The builders of this road intended to operate from
Lincoln to Marysville, a distance of twenty-four miles,
but by 1866 only sixteen miles of the railroad had been
built. The road bed had been damaged from rain and floods
to such an extent that operations on this line were
3
Sacramento Union, January 1, 1859-
4
Sacramento Union, November 8, 1861.
^Towne, Bancroft Collection. MS.
139
£
suspended until September, 1868. Before the railroad
was continued to Marysville and northward through the
Sacramento Valley, the merger of many small railroads with
the Central Pacific Railroad Company had occurred.
The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California
was organized on June 28, 1861. Through the efforts of
Theodore Judah, the Central Pacific obtained the rights
to build the western unit of the transcontinental rail"
road to be authorized by Congress in 1862. Actual con
struction on the route of the Central Pacific awaited the
passage of the Pacific Railroad Act, which occurred on
July 1, 1862. In Sacramento on January 8, 1863, the
construction of the Central Pacific began. The American
River was crossed and eighteen miles of track were com"
pieted to Roseville by the spring of 1864. The main
line of the Central Pacific entered the foothills and
left the Sacramento Valley by way of Newcastle and
joined with the Union Pacific at Promontory Point, Utah,
6
Southern Pacific Company, Historical Outline of
Southern Pacific Company (San Francisco, 1933), p. 24.
Hereinafter cited as Southern Pacific, Outline.
on May 10, 1869-^
With the completion of the Central Pacific, much
of the transmountain trade which had previously been car
ried by the Sacramento Valley Railroad was diverted to
the Central Pacific. In order to control the trade to the
mining region east of Sacramento, the Central Pacific
purchased the California Central Railroad at a sheriff's
sale in 1863 and that portion of the road between Folsom
g
and Roseville was abandoned. Traffic from Sacramento to
Lincoln was now carried on track controlled by the Central
Pacific. The road north of Lincoln had been completed by
the Yuba Railroad Company to a point some seven miles from
Marysville before construction had stopped in 1868.
The right to construct a railroad from the main
line of the Central Pacific to Portland, Oregon, through
the Sacramento Valley was granted to the California and
Oregon Railroad Company which was chartered on June 30,
1865, and received a land grant of 12,800 acres per mile
^Collis P. Huntington, Correspondence of Collis P.
Huntington and Mark Hopkins. MSS film, Volume 11, page 1,
Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
g
Towne, Bancroft Collection, MS.
141
by an Act of Congress on July 25, 1866. The California
and Oregon Railroad Company obtained control of the track
north of Lincoln through consolidation with the Marysville
Railroad Company and the Yuba Railroad Company in December,
1869* The railroad had been completed to Marysville on
June 1, 1869. Construction began on the road north of
Marysville in October, 1869- Control of the California
and Oregon Railroad Company had been acquired by the
Central Pacific, and the consolidation of the two com-
9
panies took place on August 22, 1870.
The main line of the Central Pacific made connec
tion at Marysville with the California Northern Railroad
which had been organized in 1860 to build a road to Oro-
ville. Completion of the California Northern Railroad
occurred on February 6, 1864, as reported in the Chico
Butte Record.^ The first passenger train reached Oro-
ville on February 9, 1864.^ Travel northward from
9
Central Pacific Railroad Company, To the Bond
holders of the Central Pacific Company (New York, 1873),
pp. 12-13.
"^Chico Butte Record, February 6, 1864.
■^Chico Butte Record. February 13, 1864.
Marysville after 1864 usually went by railroad on the
California Northern to Oroville and then by stage to Chico
and Red Bluff.
The city of Marysville was also interested in rail
connection with San Francisco by way of Vallejo. In 1857
the Marysville and San Francisco Railroad Company was
organized, but it was not until it became part of the
California Pacific Railroad Company, organized in 1865,
that the development of the route became a reality. The
California Pacific became a strong competitor of the
Central Pacific. It began construction from Vallejo in
December, 1866, and by February, 1869, the road was com
pleted to Sacramento by way of Davis. From Davis a road
was built north to Woodland, Knight’s Landing; by 1870
it was completed to Marysville. Because the roadbed was
faulty through the tules, the portion between Knight's
Landing and Marysville was abandoned following the flood
12
of 1872. Control of the California Pacific was obtained
by the Central Pacific in August, 1871, with rail lines
Towne, Bancroft Collection, MS.
143
extending to Vallejo and steamer connection to San Fran- '
13
CISCO.
By obtaining control of the California Pacific
Railroad, the Central Pacific obtained access to the San
Francisco Bay area. Passengers and freight destined for
the communities of the Sacramento Valley went by steamer
from San Francisco to Vallejo. From Vallejo rail trans
portation was available to Marysville by way of Davis,
Sacramento and Roseville, on the line of the Central
Pacific. North of Marysville the California Northern
’Railroad carried passengers and freight to Oroville.
Beyond this point stage companies continued to provide
service to Chico, Red Bluff, Redding and the settlements
of Oregon.
When the Central Pacific began construction at
Marysville on the Califomia-Oregon Branch in October,
1869, the route did not follow the line of the California
Northern to Oroville. About two miles north of Marysville
the railroad crossed the Feather River and construction
13
Erie Heath, Seventy-Five Years of Progress
(San Francisco, 1945), p. 16.
144
proceeded northward to Lomo, Live Oak, Gridley and Biggs,
14
and reached Nelson in May of 1870. By July, trains
15
were operating to Chico. Chico remained a major stage
terminal for many years after the arrival of the railroad
with stages connecting with Oroville and mountain communi
ties to the east and also with Willows, Orland and Colusa
16
located on the west side of the Sacramento River.
North from Chico the railroad was built to Nord,
Vina and reached Sesma, opposite Tehama, on January 11,
1871. Passengers transferred to stagecoach at Sesma and
crossed the Sacramento River and proceeded to Red Bluff
and Redding by stage. Freight to the upper Sacramento
River communities was still cheaper by steamboat than by
rail. The Yreka Journal of May 16, 1871, indicated that
freight by steamer was $12.00 a ton to Red Bluff. Freight
to Sesma by rail was $9-00 a ton but an extra $5.00 was
required to haul the goods to Red Bluff. It was estimated
that less than a ton of goods arrived at Sesma by rail
^Red Bluff Sentinel, May 7, 1870.
15Red Bluff Sentinel, July 9, 1870.
■^Frederick Shearer, ed., The Pacific Tourist
(New York, 1882-83), p. 325.
145
each day. It was not until the railroad was completed to
Red Bluff that it reduced the cost of transportation to
17
less than that charged by the steamers.
The railroad terminus remained at Sesma until a
railroad bridge was completed across the Sacramento River.
The first locomotive crossed the railroad bridge to Tehama
18
on August 12, 1871. Construction continued north on
the west side of the Sacramento River and reached Red Bluff
on December 6, 1871. The road reached the northern ex
tremity of the Sacramento Valley at Redding on September 1,
1872, which remained the northern terminus of the railroad
until the 1880*s when it was connected with the railroad
from Oregon.
With the completion of the railroad to Redding,
the major route of transportation from the San Francisco
Bay area and Sacramento was by the Central Pacific Rail
road. Steamers rarely ascended the Sacramento River as
far as Red Bluff after 1871. Stage transportation, which
Mae Helene Bacon Boggs, Mv Playhouse Was a Con
cord Stage (Oakland, 1942), p. 558. Hereinafter cited as
Boggs, Mv Playhouse.
■^®Red Bluff Sentinel, August 12, 1871.
146
had been the major means of travel in the 1850’s and
1860’s, was relegated to carrying passengers in areas where
rail transportation did not exist. The major route of
transportation from Sacramento north, after 1871, did not
go directly to Marysville by way of Nicolaus but went east
to Roseville and north to Marysville by way of Lincoln.
North of Marysville the major route of travel did not go
to Oroville, as it had during the period of stage trans
portation, but went to Chico, Tehama, Red Bluff and
Redding. This remained the major route of transportation
until the railroad was completed on the west side of the
Sacramento River.
Construction of a railroad west of the Sacramento
River began under the California Pacific Railroad Company
which completed a line from Vallejo to Sacramento by way
of Davis in 1869, as noted earlier. From Davis a road
was constructed to Woodland, Knight's Landing and crossed
the Sacramento River to Marysville by 1870. The route
north of Woodland was built by the Northern Railway Company
which was organized on July 19, 1871, for the purpose of
1 Q
building a railroad from Woodland to Tehama. 7 The
19
Towne, Bancroft Collection. MS.
147
railroad route followed the course of the Sacramento River
about ten miles to the west and about the same distance
east of the Coast Range Mountains.
The Northern Railway Company line branched off
of the California Pacific line just north of Woodland.
Construction reached Colusa County line by May 15, 1876.
Ten days later the road had reached Arbuckle and on
June 23, 1876, the road was completed to Williams.
Williams was located eleven miles west of Colusa. Although
Colusa was the major settlement between Sacramento and Red
Bluff, the railroad did not enter Colusa because that city
did not grant concessions demanded for the privilege of
being on the main line. Colusa remained an important
trading center on the Sacramento River, but after 1876
passenger service to Colusa came by rail to Williams and
then by stage to Colusa.
North of Williams the town of Maxwell was laid out
by the railroad in 1878. On September 26, 1878, the road
reached Willows. Willows was wholly a railroad town.
It remained the terminus of the road until construction
began in June, 1882, to complete the road to Tehama where
it connected with the Califomia-Oregon branch of the
148
Central Pacific. This link was completed on September 26,
20
1882, as reported in the Redding Independent.
With the completion of the railroad from Willows
to Tehama, the main route of transportation from the San
Francisco Bay area to Redding and points north was by the
west side route. Along the route of the railroad, the
communities of Davis, Woodland, Arbuckle, Williams,
Willows, Orland and Coming developed and became major
centers of trade for the residents of the west side of the
Sacramento Valley. The railroad made steamer transporta
tion on the Sacramento and Feather rivers no longer
profitable. Stage coach routes which had been used since
the early 1850’s no longer carried the bulk of the traffic.
The railroad had created a new route along which developed
new communities which hastened the economic growth of the
Sacramento Valley.
While it is evident that the railroad changed to
some extent the routes of transportation in the Sacramento
Valley, the change which occurred south of Sacramento
through the San Joaquin Valley was phenomenal. The de
velopment of the San Joaquin Valley begins with the coming
20
Boggs, Mv Playhouse, p. 698.
149
of the railroad.
RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Except for the settlements established along foot
hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and along the San
Joaquin River and its tributaries during the gold rush
period, the San Joaquin Valley was virtually an uninhabited
area prior to the building of the railroad. The major
route of transportation extending the entire length of the
San Joaquin Valley was a stage line along the eastern edge
of the valley. For a short period of time prior to the
Civil War, the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley was
serviced by the Butterfield Overland Stage. Steamboats
ascended the San Joaquin River to Tranquility on the
Fresno Slough and provided a route of transportation for
passengers and freight to the upper San Joaquin Valley.
The transportation needs of the residents were
readily met by stage, wagon or steamboat. It was not
until the railroad was built that the population of the
valley increased to a size that required a more adequate
system of transportation. The building of the railroad
through the San Joaquin Valley not only established a new
150
RAILROAO ROUTES OF THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
DAVIS
SA CR A M E NT O
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a okelumne - f f - / VALLEJ
ALAM T O C K T O N
A T H R O P
PO N
Tu2lom„e
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MERCED
% MADERA
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\
41 \ -- -
o \ G O S H E N ® a ‘
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D E L A N O
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151
route of transportation but also created a vast inland
empire.
The building of the railroad in the San Joaquin
Valley was closely tied to the activities of the directors
of the Central Pacific Railroad. After completing the
transcontinental line from Sacramento eastward to join
with the Union Pacific in Utah, the Central Pacific pro
ceeded to acquire control of the railroads connecting
Sacramento with the San Francisco Bay area. The original
grant to construct a road from San Jose to Sacramento by
way of Stockton, with a branch line from Niles to Oakland,
was issued on December 13, 1862, to the Western Pacific
Railroad Company.
The route of the Western Pacific was one of the
major links in the railroad line connecting Sacramento
with San Francisco. The Western Pacific completed its line
from Sacramento to Galt on May 15, 1869, and reached Lodi,
the northernmost settlement in the San Joaquin Valley, on
21
August 4, 1869, and reached Stockton on August 14, 1869.
The route was completed to San Jose and Alameda by
21
Towne, Bancroft Collection. MS.
152
September, 1869. On December 1, 1869 the railroad from
Sacramento to San Francisco by way of Niles was open for
22
business. On June 23, 1870 the Western Pacific Railroad
was consolidated with the Central Pacific, giving the
Central Pacific control of 158 miles of track connecting
Sacramento, Stockton, Oakland, San Jose and San Fran-
23
cisco.
For the purpose of building a line from San Fran
cisco through Santa Clara, Monterey, San Luis Obispo,
Tulare, Los Angeles and San Diego counties and making
connection with a line from the Mississippi River, the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company of California was organ
ized on December 3, 1865. The route of the Southern
Pacific was changed in 1867 so that it no longer extended
southward from Gilroy through the coastal counties but
went eastward through Pacheco Pass and the interior coun
ties of Fresno, Tulare, Kern and San Bernardino to
22
Collis P. Huntington, Correspondence of Collis P.
Huntington and Mark Hopkins, MSS film, Volume 11, page 1,
Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
23
Central Pacific Railroad Company, To the Bond
holders of the Central and Western Pacific Railroad
Companies (New York, 1871), p. 7.
153
24
the east. Although a railroad was constructed along the
original survey of the Southern Pacific between Goshen
and Alcalde, the road was never connected with the line
constructed through the coast counties south of San Fran
cisco. The major route of the railroad through the San
Joaquin Valley was built southward from the Central Pacific
line which extended from Sacramento to the San Francisco
Bay area by way of Stockton.
The right to build a railroad south from Stockton
through the San Joaquin Valley was granted to the San
Joaquin Valley Railroad Company which was chartered by the
State of California on February 5, 1868. Although char
tered as a separate company, the San Joaquin Valley Rail
road Company was controlled by the Central Pacific and was
officially consolidated with the Central Pacific on
August 22, 1870.25
Construction on the San Joaquin Valley Railroad
began on December 31, 1869, at Lathrop. Although Stockton
was selected as the original junction for the San Joaquin
24
Bancroft, California. VII, 595-596.
25
Towne, Bancroft Collection. MS.
154
Valley route, the city council refused to grant the Central
Pacific the desired right of way through a principal street
along the water front. The junction was then established
at Lathrop, some ten miles south of Stockton. The first
eleven miles of the road were built in early 1870.
Stations were established at Cowell (present-day Manteca)
and Ripon, near the crossing of the Stanislaus River.
Construction crews remained at Ripon until the
bridge was erected across the Stanislaus River in Septem
ber, 1870. South of the Stanislaus River stretched a
smooth and level plain which required very little excava
tion and the laying of the track progressed rapidly.
Bridge builders went ahead of the construction crews.
Sidetracks were built at station points to accommodate
supply trains. On November 8, 1870, the railroad reached
Modesto which was ten miles south of Ripon.
Modesto, which had originally been named Ralston,
was located on the Tuolumne River and became the major
trade center of Stanislaus County. In 1872 Modesto
Clarence Wooster, "Building the Railroad Down
the San Joaquin in 1871,” California Historical Society
Quarterly. XVII (March, 1939), 25.
155
replaced Knight's Ferry as the county seat. Knight's
Ferry, which was located on the Stockton-Los Angeles stage
route, lost its importance as a trade center after losing
the county seat. The major route of transportation through
Stanislaus County was established along the route of the
Central Pacific.
In 1871 the Central Pacific laid its track south
from Modesto to Bear Creek where the new tovm of Merced
27
was laid out. Along the route were located the com
munities of Ceres, Turlock, Cressey (present-day Livings
ton) and Atwater. The railroad reached Merced on Janu
ary 25, 1872. Merced grew rapidly and the county seat
was moved from Snelling, once a major stage stop on the
Stockton-Los Angeles Road, to Merced in 1872. Merced was
not only to become a major shipping center but was also
to become the point of departure by stagecoach for Yosemite
28
Valley by way of Coulterville or Mariposa.
With the completion of the Central Pacific to
Merced, freighting by team from Stockton to the old
27
Millerton, Fresno Expositor. January 24, 1872.
o o
Shearer, The Pacific Tourist, p. 335.
156
communities located along the Stockton-Los Angeles stage
route became unprofitable and ceased. The stage from
29
Millerton connected directly with Merced. Although
freighting and stage travel remained in use after the
arrival of the railroad, their lines were shortened to
extend to the railroad as it built southward. Out of each
town established on the route of the railroad, stage and
freight service was established to the prerailroad com
munities located on the east side of the San Joaquin
Valley.
South of Merced the construction of the railroad
proceeded at a rate of a mile a day and reached the Chow-
chilla River by February 14, 1872. By the end of February,
the construction crews were building a bridge across the
Fresno River and had constructed the railroad some six
30
miles south of Chowchilla. During the month of March,
the railroad was completed through Madera County and
O-l
reached Sycamore Point on the San Joaquin River.
29
Millerton, Fresno Expositor. January 31, 1872.
30
Millerton, Fresno Expositor. February 28, 1872.
31
Millerton, Fresno Expositor. March 27, 1872.
157
The directors of the Central Pacific planned to
build a community at Sycamore but instead purchased a town-
32
site some ten miles to the south, at present-day Fresno.
The major settlement in Fresno County in 1872 was Miller
ton, located on the old Stockton-Los Angeles Road. It had
been the county seat since 1856. The railroad company was
in favor of moving the county seat to Fresno. In the
election held in March of 1874, Fresno was chosen as the
33
county seat /er Millerton and Kingston.
South of Fresno the railroad established Fowler,
Kingsburg and Cross Creek. South of Cross Creek the stakes
used to lay out the line of track were turned in the direc
tion of Visalia, the county seat of Tulare County and an
important stage center in the southern San Joaquin Valley.
Visalia refused to meet the demands of the railroad for
the privilege of being on the route of the railroad. Work
on the road stopped, and new stakes were laid out to Goshen
■^Millerton, Fresno Expositor. April 24, 1872.
33
Collis P. Huntington and John Casey to Mark
Hopkins, March 30, 1874, Correspondence of Collis P.
Huntington and Mark Hopkins. MSS film, Volume 12, page 93,
Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
158
Q i
seven miles to the west of Visalia. The railroad was
completed to Goshen by August 1, 1872.
At Goshen the Central Pacific Railroad connected
with the Southern Pacific Railroad which had received
grants to construct a line to the Colorado River under the
35
Acts of Congress of 1866 and 1871. Although the merger
of the Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific into the
Southern Pacific Company did not occur until 1884, the
control of both railroads by the same men was evident by
1871 when agreement was reached for the Contract and
Finance Company of the Central Pacific to construct the
36
road of the Southern Pacific.
The Southern Pacific had completed the railroad
between Goshen and Tipton by July 25, 1872. With the com-
pletion of the Central Pacific to Goshen on August 1, 1872,
through service was available from Lathrop to Tipton, a
distance of 167 miles. Between Goshen and Tipton, the
34
Clarence M. Wooster, "Building the Railroad Down
the San Joaquin in 1871," California Historical Society
Quarterly, XVIII (March, 1939), 26.
35
Southern Pacific, Outline, p. 33.
36
Bancroft, California, VII, 599.
159
railroad established the town of Tulare as a division
headquarters and railroad repair center.
The railroad terminus remained at Tipton until
1873. Stages ran to and from Los Angeles by way of San
Fernando, Fort Tejon and Grapevine Pass to the railroad at
Tipton. By July 14, 1873, the road was completed to Delano
which remained the southern terminus until the end of
July, 1874, when construction was completed to the Kern
37
River.
The railroad was not built directly from Delano to
Bakersfield. The demands of the railroad on the city of
Bakersfield to pay for the privilege of rail connection
were refused. The railroad established its depot at Sumner
38
about two miles east of Bakersfield.
With the completion of the railroad to Sumner, the
comparatively easy construction through the San Joaquin
Valley came to an end. The rise in elevation had been
gradual for a distance of 220 miles from Lathrop at 26 feet
37
Bakersfield Southern California. July 16, 1873.
38
Bakersfield Southern California. October 15,
1874.
160
39
above sea level to Simmer at 415 feet above sea level.
Grading began out of Sumner in the winter of 1874; by
April 26, 1875, trains were in operation to Caliente at
40
the base of the mountains. Stage connection with San
Fernando and Los Angeles, which had previously extended
from Sumner by way of Fort Tejon, were now operating from
41
Caliente by way of Tehachapi Pass. The railroad was
completed to Los Angeles by this route on September 5,
1876, and through traffic from San Francisco to Los Angeles
42
was open to service on September 6, 1876.
The road established by the combined efforts of
the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads emerged
as the major route of transportation through the San
Joaquin Valley. Among the important interior towns created
by the railroad were Modesto, Merced, Fresno and Tulare.
39
Jerome Madden, The Lands of the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company of California (San Francisco, 1880),
p. 30.
40
Towne, Bancroft Collection, MS.
41
Bakersfield Southern California. May 13, 1875;
William Harlan Boyd, ’ ’The Stagecoach in the Southern San
Joaquin Valley, 1854-1876,” Pacific Historical Review.
XXVI (1957), 371.
42
San Francisco Chronicle, September 6, 1876.
161
Many of the older communities which developed along the
San Joaquin River or along the route of the Stockton-
Los Angeles stage route ceased to exist or remained small
villages after the arrival of the railroad. The railroad
remained the major means of transportation for passengers
and freight until the advent of the automobile and the
emergence of the modern highway.
CHAPTER VI
THE EMERGENCE OF THE MODERN HIGHWAY
When the first settlers arrived in the Great
Central Valley, they found an area without routes of trans
portation except the streams and Indian trails. As the
population increased, trails, leading to the various
settlements along the rivers and coast, took form.
In time roads were built to provide for the wagons
which were unable to pass along the horse trails. These
roads were not permanent and were established along lines
of least resistance. The people who came to California
did not intend to remain permanently and thus were content
with trails, roads and bridges which were makeshift. The
people worked on the roads when forced to by necessity.
Usually the route would be changed when travel conditions
became intolerable.
The early roads were dirt, dusty in the simmer and
bottomless mud in the winter. On many of the roads
162
163
no attempt was made to travel during the winter season.
Detours, often covering many miles, were conanon even along
the major stage routes. When the counties were surveyed
and the land was divided into townships and sections, the
roads were often constructed to follow section lines
causing the length of the route of travel to be increased.
With the building of the railroad through the Great
Central Valley during the latter part of the nineteenth
century, a new route of travel developed. The wagons and
stagecoaches with their small capacity and their slow and
uncomfortable travel conditions could not compete with
the railroad. Many freight lines and stage companies went
out of business. The people came to depend on the rail
road as the mode of transportation with the result that
the existing roads were neglected and no new roads were
built.1
The roads in the Great Central Valley were entirely
under the control of the counties and local governments.
Little money was available for any permanent improvement.
California, Department of Highways, Biennial
Report of the Bureau of Highways (Sacramento, 1896),
p. 9.
164
The demands for the improvement of the roads came from
farmers who wanted roads over which they could travel all
year. Even though the railroad could bring supplies to
the rail station and could also carry the agricultural
produce from the station to distant markets, this was of
little value if no adequate roads existed to enable the
farmer to get his produce to the rail station. Added to
the demands of the farmer were the requests of the
bicyclists who found the roads unsuited for trips into
the country. With the advent of the automobile, around
1900, came new demands for improved roads.
During the period from 1885 to 1895, the counties
2
had begun to improve the conditions of their roads. The
first action by the state to solve the growing problem of
road transportation came in 1895 when the legislature
created a Bureau of Highways with R. C. Irvine, Marsden
Manson and J. L. Maude as the first commissioners. These
men traveled separately by team and visited every county
of California. They traveled about sixteen thousand miles
2
California, Highway Advisory Committee, Report
of the State Highway System of California (Sacramento,
1925), p. 80.
165
in two years, and their report was submitted to the gover
nor on November 25, 1896, and became the basis for the
3
highway system of California.
The proposals of the Bureau of Highways included
the construction of a main line through the San Joaquin
and Sacramento valleys and another along the coast. The
implementation of the original survey did not come until
1909 with the passage of the State Highway Act on
March 22nd, which provided for a bond issue of $18,000,000
to finance a road building program according to the pro-
4
posals made by the Bureau of Highways in 1896. The act
authorized construction of a highway which would follow
the most direct and practical course with lateral roads
to connect the communities not on the route of the highway.
The first official surveys were made in February, 1912,
and construction was started on the state highway in June,
1912.5
3
California, Department of Highways, Biennial
Report of the Bureau of Highways, p. 25.
4
California, Legislature, A Study for the Cali
fornia Legislature Joint Fact-Finding Committee on High
ways. Streets and Bridges (Sacramento, 1946), p. 9-
^Rufus Steele, "The Roads of Tomorrow," Sunset.
32 (May, 1914), 1037.
166
The greatest problem confronting the California
Highway Commission was how to implement the routing of the
highway as determined by the State Highway Act of 1909.
The law stipulated that the route should be constructed
by the "most direct and practical route." The coimnission
must either build the highway accordingly or route the
highway within each county in response to the demands of
the people. The highway would have been lengthened con
siderably if the commission had followed the desire of the
people. With the assurance from the Boards of Supervisors
of the various counties through which the highway would
be constructed, that the highway coiranission could estab
lish the route of the highway, the construction of the
modern highway began along a route recommended to the
California Highway Commission by the Highway Engineer.^
The route through the Great Central Valley gener
ally followed the main line of the Southern Pacific Rail
road. The railroad had been constructed along the most
direct and practical route, and thus it was logical that
California Highway Bulletin. I (October 15,
- 1912), 4.
167
the highway be constructed along the same route. Prior
to the survey of the Bureau of Highways in 1896, a road
had developed along the route of the railroad and was
generally used by travelers to reach the various communi
ties created by the railroad along the main line. The
route was used by wagons, bicycles and automobiles, and
exists now as U.S. 99, the main artery of travel through
the entire length of the Great Central Valley.
HIGHWAY ROUTE IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
In the Sacramento Valley, in order to provide ade
quate highway transportation, the Bureau of Highways pro
posed that a highway be constructed on each side of the
Sacramento River between Sacramento and Red Bluff. When
the commissioners surveyed the roads of the Sacramento
Valley in 1895, they found that roads had already developed
along the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad from
Sacramento to Red Bluff by way of Marysville and also by
way of Davis and Woodland.
The roads along the railroad were the principal
traveled routes in the Sacramento Valley. They had been
used by wagons and stages since the early 1880*s. By the
168
HIGHWAY ROUTES OF THE
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
REDDING,
R ED: B LU F Fj
'TEH AM Aj
CO RNING,
o * •
s
[SESMA
ORLA n d ,
.. f
WILLOWSj
^99V
WILLIAMS /COLUSAl
lyuba|
:h|CO/
)9C
^OROVILLE p
^RIDLEY
tC I T Y « ® MARYSVILLE
lWHEATLANC?
KNIGHTS LAND|NG>
w o o d l a n d ]
DAVIS
VALLEJO
f
r _ . . ^COLFAX fL
LINCOLN /
AUBURN
(ROSEVILLE;
'FOLSOM /:
^SACRAMENTO y£ps
tmnes R
'S T O C KTON .^o0,
/
/
V 4
sy,
I
I
\
M e r c e d 7?. ..
• - . • • I 111 l>~ H 1 I
v\:
MERC E D
.MADE RA
169
1890's the routes were mapped by the League of American
Wheelmen and the California Associated Cycling Clubs, and
tour books were published to assist the cyclist in his
travels.^ These early maps published by the cycling
groups became the format for the road maps of the auto
mobile age.
The tour books of the cycling clubs were the most
thorough available to the traveler of the 1890's. Usually
the cyclist was guided along the telegraph poles and
railroad tracks; where no road existed suitable for the
8
cyclist, he was encouraged to ride the railroad ties.
The tour map for the route along the west side of the
Sacramento Valley began at Davis. The road followed the
railroad to Woodland and was considered to be good and
level. North of Woodland the road continued north along
the railroad to Black's, Dunnigan, and then turned east
to College City. The road returned to the main line of
League of American Wheelmen, The L.A.W. Road Book
of California (San Francisco, 1896); California Associated
Cycling Clubs, C.A.C.C. Touring Guide and Road Book (San
Francisco, 1898).
O
League of American Wheelmen, The L.A.W. Road Book
of California, p. 16.
170
the railroad at Arbuckle and continued north along the
telegraph poles to Williams. North of Williams the road
followed the railroad directly to Willows, Orland, Coming,
9
Tehama, Red Bluff and Redding.
Except for minor changes, the highway now U.S. 99W
was constructed along the same route. Construction of the
state highway began in 1912 and was financed under the
original bond issue approved in 1909. By 1916 the high
way had been completed from Red Bluff to Sacramento except
for a small portion of the highway just north of Davis.
North of Red Bluff the highway had been graded about half
way to Redding. This portion of the highway was not com
pleted until a second bond issue for fifteen million dol
lars was passed in 1916 to finance construction.^^ The
route was in general use by 1920. The road which began as
a trail along the main line of the Southern Pacific Rail
road has become U.S. 99W, the major route of transportation
through the Sacramento Valley. U.S. 99W carries most of
Q
California Associated Cycling Clubs, C.A.C.C.
Touring Guide and Road Book, pp. 34-35.
^"California Road Needs Demand New Bond Issue,"
Touring Topics. 8 (July, 1916), 24-25.
171
the through and conmercial traffic in the Sacramento Valley
while the route which developed on the east side of the
11
valley, known as U.S. 99E, carries mostly local traffic.
The route which became the major artery of travel
on the east side of the Sacramento Valley, known as
U.S. 99E, varies from the route used by the cyclists of
the 1890’s. From Sacramento to Marysville the cyclists
went by way of Pleasant Grove located about ten miles west
of the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad. At
Marysville the road crossed the Feather River to Yuba City
and then followed the railroad directly to Live Oak,
Gridley, Nelson, Durham, Chico, Vina and crossed the
12
Sacramento River to Tehama.
This route did not become the one recommended by
the Bureau of Highways in 1896. The route of the state
highway was proposed to follow the main line of the South
ern Pacific Railroad. Large sections of the route were
not completed under the original bond issue of 1909 and
■^David W. Lantis, Rodney Steiner, and Arthur E.
Karinen, California: Land of Contrast (Belmont, Cali
fornia, 1963), p. 359.
12
California Associated Cycling Clubs, C.A.C.C.
Touring Guide and Road Book, p. 36.
172
had to be built from the money obtained in the bond issue
13
of 1916. By 1919, the eastern highway route had been
established from Sacramento to Marysville along the main
line of the railroad by way of Lincoln. North of Marys
ville the highway continued to follow the railroad from
Yuba City to Gridley, Biggs, Chico and crossed the Sacra-
-I ^ , •
mento River to Tehama. The construction of the state
highway was not completed under the second bond issue of
1916, and a third issue was approved in 1919 for forty
million dollars. Major changes were made in U.S. 99E
between Red Bluff and Gridley after 1919.
The new route of U.S. 99E began at Red Bluff where
it crossed the Sacramento River. It had previously crossed
at Tehama. The route between Los Molinos, opposite Tehama,
and Chico remained along the main line of the Southern
Pacific Railroad. At Chico, the highway did not continue
to follow the railroad to Durham, Biggs and Gridley but
was constructed to a p'oint equidistant between Chico and
13
"California Road Needs Demand New Bond Issue,"
Touring Topics, 8 (July, 1916), 24-25.
^"It May Be a 'Long, Long, Trail' State, But It
Has Something To Offer at Both Ends," Touring Topics. 11
(July, 1919), 9.
173
Oroville and then turned south to Gridley and continued on
to Yuba City, Marysville, Lincoln, Roseville and Sacra-
mento.
Between Sacramento and Red Bluff the two major
highway arteries, U.S. 99E and U.S. 99W, were primarily -
built along the routes established by the railroad. Only
on the route of U.S. 99E between Marysville and Red Bluff
did the highway approximate the old stage road. The change
in the route of transportation attributed to the railroad
was more evident in the area south of Sacramento through
the San Joaquin Valley.
HIGHWAY ROUTE IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
The main artery of transportation extending the
length of the San Joaquin Valley is U.S. 99. This highway
route was proposed by the Bureau of Highways in 1896 and
was in use prior to the survey made by the highway com
missioners in 1895. The League of American Wheelmen and
the California Associated Cycling Clubs indicated a route
existed through the San Joaquin Valley which followed the
main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad by way of Lodi,
Stockton, Lathrop and Modesto. Between Modesto and
174
HIGHWAY ROUTES OF THE
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
OAVIS
SACRAMENTO
Sumnes - ^
■j okdumne JL/. VALLEJO
QALT
LODI
ALAMEDA
NILES
STOCKTON
L A T H R O P
Rl PON
MOD E STO
T U R L O C K
SAN J O S E
MERCED
MADERA
FRESNO
K/ngs ■
o'. G O S H E N U V I S A L I A > ^ : : :
: TULARE
/^LINDsAY^M- Tulare
Lake /
I PORTERVILLE
f
DELANO
We
FOMOSA
BAKERSFIELD
Buen
'\J v j s t a | CAL|^jtE
Lake
GRAPEVINE
3.75
Livingston, the route went by way of Crows Landing located
west of the San Joaquin River. South of Livingston the
route followed the railroad through Madera, Fresno, Kings,
15
Tulare and Kern counties.
With the advent of the automobile, the route of
the highway remained along the railroad with some excep
tions. In 1909 the highway entered the San Joaquin Valley
from the south by way of Grapevine Pass to Rose Station,
at which point the road turned east through Beal’s Ranch
to the railroad and then north to Bakersfield along the
railroad. Although a road existed along the present route
of U.S. 99 from Grapevine to Bakersfield, it was not re
commended for automobile travel as it was sandy in dry
weather and difficult to negotiate in wet weather. From
Bakersfield north the road followed the railroad to Famosa,
Pixley, Tipton, Delano, Tulare, Goshen and Fresno.^
The route between Famosa and Goshen was not used
extensively after 1911 because of construction of the new
■^California Associated Cycling Clubs, C.A.C.C.
Touring Guide and Road Book, Map H and Map C.
X6
Automobile Club of Southern California, Tour
Book (Los Angeles, 1909), pp. 372-376.
176
state highway. The main road after 1911 turned east at
Famosa and followed a branch line of the Southern Pacific
to Richgrove, Ducor, Porterville, Lindsay, Exeter, Visalia
and joined the main line of the Southern Pacific at
17
Goshen. The highway by way of Porterville and Visalia
was used until the route between Delano and Goshen by way
of Tulare was completed. That portion of the highway was
not completed under the original bond issue of 1909 but
18
under the bond issue of 1916.
By 1920 the main artery of transportation through
the San Joaquin Valley was established along the present
route of U.S. 99. This route which emerged during the
first two decades of the twentieth century was established
to meet the demands of automobile transportation. It was
constructed along a route not used by wheeled vehicles
prior to the coming of the railroad. The railroad must be
considered the most influential single factor in determin
ing the major route of transportation which now extends
the entire length of the Great Central Valley.
\
■^"Bakersfield and Santa Barbara Routes Resigned,"
Touring Topics. 2 (January, 1911), 19.
18
"California Road Needs Demand New Bond Issue,"
Touring Topics. 8 (July, 1916), 24-25.
CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY AND FINDINGS
The development of the major transportation route
in the Great Central Valley of California resulted from
the arrival of white settlers and their demand for improved
travel conditions. Although many highways, which now
traverse the United States, began as an Indian trail, a
route followed by the Spanish padres, a trail blazed by
the fur trappers or a wagon trail to the frontier, this was
not true of the highway which now extends the length of
the Great Central Valley of California.
The Indian trails of the Great Central Valley were
primarily foot paths and probably originated as game
trails. These trails normally ran from east to west in
the valley. Only where the trails entered the mountains,
which enclose the valley, are they discernible. Because
of the frequent flooding of the valley, the trails were
often obliterated. The flooding condition also caused
177
178
the Indians to change the direction of their trails in
order to avoid the streams and marshy terrain. No north-
south route developed in the pre-European period. It was
only in the northern and southern extremities of the valley
where the highway enters the mountain passes does the
route of the highway approximate the early Indian trails.
The numerous expeditions of the Spanish in the
Great Central Valley did not establish any permanent
routes of travel. Although the valley was explored exten
sively, the expeditions were so infrequent that none of
the trails became established routes.
The arrival of the fur trappers brought an in
crease in travel within the Great Central Valley, but it
produced no trails which approximate the modem highway.
The fur trappers generally traveled along the streams, and
the trails which they established were usually obliterated
during periods of high water. In the Sacramento Valley
there was considerably more trapping activity than in the
San Joaquin Valley. Each year brigades of the Hudson Bay
Company entered the valley over routes previously used.
Although there is no evidence that a distinguishable road
developed, there is some indication that these brigades
179
tended to return to the same camp sites and crossed the
streams at places previously used.
The arrival of permanent white settlers in the
Great Central Valley brought the first development of
established routes of travel. The individual settlers,
who located on the rivers and creeks, became the haven for
many of the overland travelers who entered the valley.
The continuous use of the trails leading to farms and
ranchos of the early settlers produced the first disr
tinguishable routes.
The major factor which accelerated the development
of the routes of travel was the influx of population
caused by the discovery of gold in 1848. Many of the
miners arrived in San Francisco by sailing ship. In order
to avoid the arduous land route which had to by-pass the
bays and Delta regions, the miners took passage on sailing
ships for Sacramento and Stockton. With the arrival of
the steamboats in the fall of 1849, water travel was ex
tended to Red Bluff on the Sacramento River, Marysville
on the Feather River, Sycamore Point on the San Joaquin
River and Fresno City on the Tulare Slough. The up-river
travel which began in 1848 lost its importance by 1900.
180
Water transportation helped to establish many of the early
communities in the Great Central Valley which became trade
centers. The passengers and cargo which were landed at
the river ports had to be transported to the mining areas
by overland routes. Land routes tended to supplement
rather than compete with the water routes.
The development of land routes in the Great Central
Valley was also stimulated by the arrival of the miners in
1848. From the coastal towns and river ports, trails
emerged leading to the mining communities along the eastern
edge of the valley. In the Sacramento Valley, two north-
south routes developed east and west of the Sacramento
River. In time these routes developed into stage roads.
The stage and freighting companies operated on regular
scheduled runs connecting Sacramento with the Sacramento
and Feather river towns and the raining districts along the
foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
South of Stockton, the main road through the San
Joaquin Valley developed along the foothills of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains and connected the mining communities with
the river ports. Although a route developed along the
western edge of the San Joaquin River, the main road
181
extended from Stockton to the Tehachapi Mountains on the
eastern edge of the valley. It was known as the Stockton-
Los Angeles Road.
The development of land routes created the need
for regular ferry service across the numerous streams.
The location of a new ferry was often of sufficient value
to change the land route. By the 1870’s bridges had been
constructed over many of the streams and replaced the
ferry service which had been in operation since the late
1840’s.
In the 1870's the transportation route in the Great
Central Valley was altered with the construction of the
railroad. Although many railroad companies were chartered
to construct segments of the railroad system, it was the
Central Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads, through
various mergers, which were to complete and control the
railroads.
In the Sacramento Valley, the railroad constructed
two main lines east and west of the Sacramento River. The
line in the eastern portion of the valley was constructed
along a route previously used by the stage companies.
The western line was constructed west of the old stage
182
road and did not connect many of the river ports. New
communities were established and an entirely new route of
transportation developed.
In the area south of Stockton through the San
Joaquin Valley, the railroad was built along a route void
of settlement. Most of the major communities of the San
Joaquin Valley were developed along the railroad. The
early roads which were located on the eastern and western
edges of the valley were slowly to fall into disuse.
With the building of the railroad and the estab
lishment of a new mode of travel, the conditions of the
roads became progressively worse. Many stage lines and
freighting companies went out of business. The people
became to depend on the railroad with the result that the
old roads were not improved and no new ones were con
structed. Demands for improvement of the roads came from
the farmers who needed adequate roads to get their produce
to the rail stations. Bicyclists wanted better travel
conditions for their excursions. The advent of the auto
mobile age brought increased demands for improved roads.
Between 1885 and 1895, the counties began to im
prove the roads, but conditions remained intolerable until
183
action was taken by the stage legislature. In 1895, the
state legislature created a Bureau of Highways which sur
veyed the entire state and made recommendations for the
construction of a state highway system. The route proposed
by the Bureau of Highways in the Great Central Valley was
along the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The
implementation of the original survey came through the
passage of the stage Highway Act of 1909 which provided
funds to finance the building of the highway system.
Subsequent bond issues were passed in 1916 and 1919.
In the Sacramento Valley the highway was con
structed along the main lines of the railroad east and west
of the Sacramento River. Only on the eastern route between
Marysville and Red Bluff did the highway approximate the
old stage road. In the San Joaquin Valley the highway
paralleled the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
The railroad must be considered as the most influential
factor in determining the present route of transportation
extending the length of the Great Central Valley.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Manuscripts
Dean, Peter. "Life and Experience in California." MS.
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Unpublished Material
Cutter, Donald C. "Spanish Explorations of California’s
Central Valley." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
University of California, Berkeley, 1950.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Jensen, James Maurice (author)

Core Title The Development Of The Central Valley Transportation Route In California To 1920

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program History

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag history, general,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Servin, Manuel P. (committee chair), Pullias, Earl Vivon (committee member), Rowland, Donald W. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-173037

Unique identifier UC11359232

Identifier 6510093.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-173037 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 6510093.pdf

Dmrecord 173037

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Jensen, James Maurice

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

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Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA