Page:Big Oak Flat Road (HAER No. CA-147) written historical and descriptive data.pdf/8

 details of the triumphal procession: "They marched up the valley without a stop until they reached Leidig's Hotel (for a] tremendous welcome, flags flying, cheering etc etc. Then they drove to the Sentinel Hotel where Mr. Black (the proprietor] opened a fusillade with the popular sounds that corks make upon leaving champagne bottles."

The horses had been decorated with flags, rosettes and ribbons at Gentry's. C. H. Burden, a passenger in the procession, later described the entry to the valley: "As we reached the floor of the great wonderland we were met by a procession of campers and residents of the valley. Such cheering, shouting and singing!" Charles Leidig, son of early Valley residents, later recalled that a number of the region's Indians took part in the festivities, riding horses and dancing while garbed in their native clothes.

The route proper began at the rail terminus at Milton, then passed through Copperopolis, Byrne's Ferry (on the Calaveras-Tuolumne county line) 1 around Table Mountain to the Goodwin Road and over Lava Ridge to Chinese Camp; from there it passed through Salvado and Shipley Flat en route to Jacksonville, then along the Tuolumne River to a crossing at Haswell's Ferry (now Steven's Bar), up the steep Priest's Grade, then to Big Oak Flat, Groveland (as Garrotte had been renamed in 1875) and Second Garrote to Alva Hamilton's. The toll section of the turnpike ran for another 34 miles from the TuolumneMariposa County line near Hamilton's Station (now Buck Meadows) to Hodgdon Meadow, Hardin's Ranch, Crane Flat, Gin Flat and Tamarack Flat and on to Gentry's Station. After taking a first glance at Yosemite Valley from Oh My! Point (named for a visitor's reaction, this view is now blocked by trees), passengers dropped down the steep grade to the base of E1 Capitan in the Yosemite Valley. The $56,000 turnpike had a maximum grade of 16 percent and averaged 13' in width. The road was open year round from Big Oak Flat as far as Crockers' Station, just outside the park's present northwest boundary, and for seven months from Crackers' to the Valley floor. The tollgate on the Yosemite end was located at the covered bridge over the South Fork of the Tuolumne River. In 1875, Harlow Stuart of Sonora ran a telegraph line along the road.

The toll rates for use of the Valley section were set by the state legislature in the act that allowed the road to enter the Valley; these were:

The road was widely heralded for its stunning scenery. About a quarter mile above "the Zigzag," the approaching traveler came suddenly upon a spectacular vista of Bridalveil Fall and the Yosemite Valley. In early years, the road owners called this place "New Inspiration Point," appropriating the name from the promontory on the south rim of the Valley, and for a while a metal sign