The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-07
A FREE YOSEMITE ROAD,
How Mariposa Lost an Oppor-
tunity for Which She
Had Fought.
Through the Work Of "Solid
Three" in the Supervisors the
Prize Vanished.

Ex-senator James II. Lawrence, pio-
neer Californian and veteran journalist,
has been writing up the Yosemite wagon
road business for the MERGED Star under
the caption of 1.-THE Story of Free Wagon
Road 1t has run through six numbers
of the Star and covers a period of about
thirty years, including details of legisla
tive failures, executive catastropies and
local methods of obstruction.
These latter features will especially in
terest the people of Mariposa and MERGED,
but there are facts of record in brief per-
tanning to the subject and several up-to-
date happenings which are of general pub
lie interest. To CALL representative Mr..
Lawrence gave in condensed form some
information derived from familiarity with
the subject, or, as he expresses it, "based
upon personal observation, for / spent half
my life in the butterfly country and 1 am
no spring chicken"
Eyes, / felt cheerful over the bill which
appropriated $500 for the construction
of free wagon road from the town of
Mariposa to the Yosemite Valley, and
happy to see that Immediately after the
adjournment of the Legislature THE CALL
stepped to the front and gave it an I'M
qualified Endorsement. At that time it
looked, on the face of it, all right. The
bill provided that the Controller should
draw his warrant in favor of the Treasurer
of Mariposa County for $4,000 upon the
completion OF the survey; then, upon the
completion of one-fourth of the work,
$12, 600, and in like manner in $12, 600 in
stallments at regular stages in the progress
of the road until its completion. This
was all good enough, but the mischievous
feature of the measure was in the conclud-
ing section which reads as follows: This
act shall take effect Immediately after the
County of Mariposa shall have appropri-
ated and deposited with the State Treas
urer the sum of $4,000 for the construction
of said road
The intention of this amendment (Which
was made in the Senate Committee on
Finance) was TO guarantee the completion
OF the road by the county in the event that
the $4,000 appropriation should prove in
sufficient; but 1t was ambiguous in Ian
guage and liable to misconstruction by an
unfriendly Board of Supervisors. In order
that your readers may comprehend the
conditions bit of history is necessary.
Oh! don't get nervous-this will not run
back to 40 or the spring of 80.
''In July, 1888, the citizens of Mariposa
County voted to issue bonds to the amount
of $4,000 for the construction of two
wagon-roadsA from the town of Mari
Valley to Coulterville. The sentiment of
the people at that date-particularly in the
principal towns-was practically unani-
nous, and the majority throughout the
county was largely in excess of the statu-
tory requirement. The only opposition
was desultory and emanated from the pro-
prietors of tollroads. 1t cut no figure at
the polls, but in combination with the
Southern Pacific has been an important
factor at the State capital whenever occa-
sion required.
Whatever may have been the moving
cause, there was developed very strong
opposition in the Board of Supervisors of
Mariposa. 1t was crystallized at their first
regular meeting, immediately following
the bond election, by the initiation of
series of unfriendly acts which have
cropped out in multiform delays and oh
structions all along the line for a period of
seven years. During this period the person
mel of the board has occasionally changed,
but in some mysterious way the obstruc-
ton tactics have found favor with them by
that same old vote, 3 to 2, till the petrified
majority has earned the name of The
Solid Three
First there was an inexcusable delay of
two months in commencing the survey
then an unnecessary amount of time and
money expended in this preliminary work.
There was hitch in the matter of issuing
bonds which was finally unraveled. They
were eventually advertised in accordance
with law. The following year tax was
levied to meet the payment of principal
and interest and this has been levied and
collected annually ever since, up to and in
Guiding the present year.
Following the advertising of the bonds
bids were invited In the usual form for the
construction of the two roads and neces-
sary bridges, and the contracts awarded to
Meany, Bigelow & Rogers for the Yosemite
road and Mentzer 81 Co. for the Coulter
Vile road. They also, about the same
time, passed an order offering the Mari
posa Commercial and Mining Company