Page:Wawona Road (HAER No. CA-148) written historical and descriptive data.pdf/5

 lodging that was the predecessor of the Wawona Hotel. Clark depended on Moore and Moore's capable wife, Huldah, to operate the inn while he was involved in road promotion and construction. 12

Clark also sought to have a wagon road constructed from the South Fork to the Mariposa Big Tree Grove, roughly following the route of his old saddle trail. In December 1873, R. B. Thomas of Mariposa provided Clark with a $3,500 estimate for a road connecting the South Fork with the west boundary of the Mariposa Grove grant, and $2,500 for an extension through the grove.13

The Mariposa Big Tree Grove and Yo Semite Turnpike Company engaged ex-mining engineer John Conway, noted for his construction of a number of Yosemite trails and the circuit road around the Valley, to survey a route from the South Fork to the Valley. On 13 June 1873, the Mariposa Gazette reported that the partners planned to extend the road to the Valley before the 1874 season commenced, and reported the route as following their existing trail as far as "the Hermitage," 3 miles from the Valley, to a point opposite the Cascades, then up the bluff over Turtleback Dome and from there down into the Valley. Conway completed his survey on 12 August, reporting that the new road would have a maximum grade of 5 percent, less difficult than had been expected; work could commence soon.14 But Clark and his partners were already under financial strains, and were unable to complete the road themselves.

In July 1873, the "Mariposa Big Tree Grove and Yosemite Road Company" was authorized to collect tolls on the new road as soon as it was completed. The following rates were set:

The completion of the Coulterville and Big Oak Flat roads to the Valley in 1874 ahead of the Wawona Road lessened interest in the new route and in Clark's enterprises on the South Fork. The over-extended road company placed its last hopes in an act introduced into the state legislature that summer that would have provided for state assistance in the construction of wagon roads into the Valley, part of which would have established a special tax of eight mils per $100 of taxable property to be vested in the "Yo Semite and Mariposa Big Tree Grove Park Turnpike Fund."16 The bill, however, got nowhere. Already severely in debt, Clark and Moore were forced to sellout to the firm of Washburn, Coffman & Chapman later in the year.17 This company had been running stages from Mariposa over the Chowchilla Mountain Road as far as Clark & Moore's, and anticipated a much greater demand for business with the extension of the road to the Valley.

The new firm hoped to complete the road in order to secure a controlled route (and monopoly) for stage businesses from Mariposa and Merced, as well as the tolls which could be collected. They had the support of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which built a connecting line to Raymond. The owners were Albert Henry Washburn, a native of Putney, Vermont with considerable business interests in Mariposa, including the stage line that carried passengers into the South Fork area; William F. Coffman of Princeton, the Mariposa County Assessor; and Emery W. "Wash" Chapman, a prominent Merced businessman. This new cartel undertook the completion of the road between Clark & Moore's and the Yosemite Valley.18 The Mariposa County Board of Supervisors issued the