Mariposa History
I didn't realize when I was ten years old that there were people
around me that were born during the Gold Rush. Even during the Civil
War and later. My grandparents were born in the 19th century and yet
they were relevant to my time and life. In some ways, it is harder to
teach our history to today's students because they can not relate to
having no electricity or a crank telephone. They do not remember a
time when man had not been on the moon and that a horse and wagon was
transportation. I suppose to them I-Pod's and computers have always
been around. Children did not smoke cigarettes in high school, not
because there were well recognized health risks, but because they did
not have the resources to acquire tobacco. My generation might have
had a plug of tobacco but no one ever said that the use of that
product could cause mouth and tongue cancer.
I remember my father instructing me on the proper way to crank a
Model T engine, warning me about all the broken arms from the
backfire. Even cars made in the l930's had cranks in the trunk and
holes below the radiator and in the grill to insert the tool to start
the car. My first car, a Model A Ford, had a devise that would
advance the "spark" to aid starting. It also had a hand throttle on
the steering column. But then that was considered a modern car. It
even had a hot water heater, a hand operated windshield wiper,
although there were some with a vacuum driven windshield motor,(Not
electric).
When I saw my first Model T I noticed a third peddle between the
clutch and the brake. This was for reverse and the transmission was
described as being planetary. So, since the brakes were not too
good, mechanical (that is no hydraulics) and seldom worked, by
pressing the reverse somewhat, the vehicle could be slowed. Of
course, when descending the Big Oak Flat Road from the top of the rim
of Yosemite Valley, a log might be drug behind the vehicle to keep it
under control. I had a friend, Walter "Sliv" Vanderbundt who worked
as a driver on that road for those who were afraid to be in control
of their cars on the steep grade through the talus slopes west of El
Capitan. Mechanical brakes on autos operated from rods attached to
the peddle and a lever on the backing plate of the rear wheels.
Seldom were there brakes on the front wheels. That road had a
telegraph station at top and bottom that would be used to notify
those using the road if it was clear to ascend or descend. I
remember not too many years ago that one could find the iron wire
used to pass the message in the rocks below the old road grade.
The McElligott family were machinists and draymen. They had a
freight company located in Mt. Bullion but at the end of the mining
at the Mariposa and Princeton Mines, they relocated to Mariposa. The
three sons of Patrick McElligott were relocated on the block of land
between Jones and Bullion St, north of 7th St., and south of the lane
that had no name passing from Jones to Bullion. J.P. McElligott
acquired the house that had been the resident of Judge Lewis F.
Jones, brother Charlie was south of him and brother Maynard (Buster)
lived in a small single wall house on the corner of 7th and Bullion.
A new structure is going up at that location at this time. A fourth
brother, Mervyn became an engineer and relocated to Fresno.
J.P. and Charlie had the machine shop on 5th St behind what is now
the Pizza Factory. Brother Maynard worked for them as a mechanic.
At the ribbon cutting upon the opening of the Mariposa Garage, all
four brothers were involved. At some point around WW1, the brothers
went to San Francisco and were granted a franchise by the Ford Motor
Company. They built a display room in front of the garage from which
Ford automobiles were sold until WWII. Douglas McElligott, son of
Charlie, was the last in the family to operate at that location. Al
and Eleanor Croft purchased the garage in about 1943.
They sold everything from Model T's to the beautiful Ford coupes of
the late 1930's. During the late l930's the garage had a fire which
severely damaged the building. It was rebuilt so the structure that
is now in use for the Arts Council and the back of the Pizza Factory
is the old garage.
It must have taken a great deal of courage to make such an investment because after WWI the economy in Mariposa sagged to
its lowest point.
The mines for the most part were closed and the Yosemite All Year Highway was yet to be built. The Yosemite Valley Railroad was
running and logging was taking place within Yosemite National Park on the south side of the Merced River. Logs were delivered to
the railroad via the first incline that entered El Portal. The logs were then transported to Merced Falls and the saw mill town
located there. Quite a number of Mariposa County families
worked and lived there.
Tourist travel to Yosemite came on the railroad, through Wawona from
Raymond and via the Big Oak Flat Road. The main hotel for Yosemite
was the Del Portal at the end of the railroad in El Portal.
Accommodations in Yosemite were little changed from the l860's and
70's. Attempts to attract tourists to Mariposa town were not
successful and in fact, when the new highway reached Mormon Bar, this
was the main crossing of Mariposa Creek and a number of tourist
cabins were located there. The travelers then continued on Bootjack
Road to Elliott's Corner and over Chowchilla Mountain to Wawona.
Photographs of Mariposa town taken during this period show a town
moving towards "ghost town" status. Fascia boards are falling off
the buildings and everything needs a coat of paint.
The Mariposa Drug Store, in the Stolder Building, closes and Mariposa
is without a pharmacy. Only the completing of Hwy 140 to Mariposa
and beyond to El Portal in l926 brings new life to the town. The
Mariposa Drug Co., Jay P. and Wanda Miller, opens in the IOOF
Building and the occasional tourist to Yosemite gives hope.
Through all of these hard times the Mariposa Garage Ford Agency
survives. Strangely enough so do most of the business in Mariposa.
The Depression in Mariposa was not as much a disaster as one would have expected. Because Mariposa was a community that depended
on itself for the basics of life there was also one other commodity that again became fundamental. Gold.
Especially Placer Gold along Agua Fria and Mariposa Creeks. Although other creeks yielded the yellow metal, they were on land
owned by the Grant
Company, the Mariposa Commercial and Mining Company which was
headquartered in England. There was a local manager who's name was
Frank McGuire. The (Fremont) Grant had not worried about the placer
gold in the creeks concentrating instead on the underground mines.
But mining of any kind ended for the most part before WWI when the
mill at the Mariposa burned and the engine house at the Princeton
Mine in Mt Bullion also burned. McGuire, whose daughter Eileen was
married to District Attorney Louis Milburn, did not seem to notice
the placer mining going on within Grant property. While he
concentrated on mining at the Pine Tree and Queen's Specimen Mines
near Bagby, the fact that people were gleaning gold from the streams
of the Grant and trading for food and supplies at Trabucco's Shopping
Center, did not seem of interest. Even Fremont, during the l850's
had sold licenses to miners living on his creeks, this seemed of
little interest during the l930. Possibly the English owners did not
know this was happening. The book, Bacon and Beans in a Gold Pan,
available at the History Center, covers this era.
To learn much more about Mariposa County along with
historical photos:
A signed copy of "Images of America" - Mariposa County,
By Leroy Radanovich can be purchased at his web site:
Radanovich Galleria & Books
This is a early day photo of the Mariposa Mine in
Mariposa County
that is mentioned in the article to
the left by Mr. Radanovich.
This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a
warm tone ready for framing
Radanovich Galleria & Books
Mariposa in 1920
This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a
warm tone ready for framing
Radanovich Galleria & Books
Mariposa County Courthouse written by Leroy Radanovich and
Scott Pinkerton is a book about the oldest courthouse in California that is still in use today.
The book is signed by Leroy Radanovich.
To purchase the book:
Radanovich Galleria & Books
Mariposa in 1860
This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a
warm tone ready for framing
Radanovich Galleria & Books