It has been five months since I have been able to communicate with
my friends in and about Mariposa County. The Sierra Sun Times has
given me the opportunity to re-establish a dialog. It is frustrating
to have the desire to communicate and feel cut off from the community
I love and live in. I am not a trained writer, yet at this time in
my life I want to write. I know that when I visit with people about
the things I love, I talk too long and give too much. But it is all
there inside me bursting to get out. I want people to know and love
Mariposa as much as I.
Mariposa has been my home for almost 64 years. I know it by inches.
This last fall I visited the Mariposa Mine, and while the surface
artifacts are not original, they have none the less been there for
over fifty years. So, the site is historic and the machinery is
historic. As a ten year old I first visited the mine to find little
left from the active days before l913 when the mill burned. In
retrospect I was first there when the site had been idle for thirty
years. Yet, here was the activity that defined Mariposa. I knew
nothing about the mine at that time nor its place in our history but
I sensed something important had happened here. Now is different.
And the discovery of the difference took a long time. Little did I
know that for most of its life this mine provided the reason for
Mariposa to exist. The quartz "float" that Fremont's Mexican miners
saw from the hill to the west drew them into this valley. In a few
short months they ground and separated more than $50,000 in gold.
They identified the vein from which the quartz containing the gold
had come. From this discovery a town was born and within a few short
months, a mine was developed, buildings built (first the Fremont
Adobe), streets laid out, men of skill came and from the wealth of
the earth a history began. This mine sustained a community as did
others like it. Yosemite is today's Mariposa Mine. The only
difference is that the closure of the road taught us that we could
stand on our own. Not a pleasant prospect but possible. Had that
happened twenty or even ten years ago, there would have been many
empty buildings in Mariposa. Government is the greatest beneficiary
of Yosemite because of the Bed Tax; but government is us; the roads,
law enforcement, fire protection, libraries, social programs and
retirement for our employees.
Closure of the mines in 1913 ended prosperity in Mariposa, not to
return for more than thirteen years. So would a long term disruption
of the ability to access Yosemite. The desire to make Mariposa a
destination is worthy but demands perspective. to understand and
accomplish that goal. Highway 140 began construction from Merced in
l918. The highway, while it reached Mariposa in 1924, it did not go
anywhere. If you wished to go to Yosemite, you would take the cut
off to Mormon Bar bypassing Mariposa, then up Big Spring Hill, on to
Chowchilla Mountain Road, into Wawona, and thus Yosemite Valley. One
attempt by the Stoddard Bus Line in Merced to encourage passengers to
stop at the Schlageter Hotel for the night and a dinner, before
continuing on to Wawona, was a failure. Stoddard had raised the
capital to build the road from the end of the Yosemite Valley Rail
Road so their coaches before 1914, then buses, after the Park Service
allowed the internal combustion engine, could take the train
passengers into the valley.
It was not until l926 when Hwy 140, using prison labor, completed a
gravel road
to El Portal to join the Stoddard road to Cascades to join the
Coulterville Road. That first year on the unpaved road proved to be
a trial. Sharp construction debris caused so many flat tires that
the Curry Co. sent out trucks loaded with tires and men to change
them. Only after the highway along the river canyon was paved that
this problem was settled. The opening of the Highway both caused
consternation for the Yosemite Valley Railroad company, but the
Washburn's in Wawona also worried that the main route of travel
would no longer access their properties and hotel.
Just about the time that Mariposa begins to experience some economic
revival, the Depression began. Strangely, the Depression gave gold
mining a boost. No only did some mines reopen but a number of
families came to Mariposa area in the spring and summer to mine along
Agua Fria and Mariposa Creeks. ":Bacon and Beans in a Gold Pan",
available at the History Center, chronicles living on the creeks and
selling the gold to Trabucco's for groceries.
Small motels or auto courts sprang up in and around town. In 1927,
the Mariposa Drug Co. opened in the IOOF building. There was no Drug
Store in Mariposa from l918 until l927. Other business opened.
Buildings got a needed coat of paint and things began looking up.
Jim Dulcich came to town to open the Butterfly Soda Fountain and
phone company which he and new bride, Marjorie, bought from Jack and
Sarah Gann. They were first located in the space in which Alinda
Franklin makes and sells her wonderful dolls today. By about l935
they moved across the street into buildings once owned by Marjorie's
father, Charlie Walker. That was the birth of the Butterfly Market,
Coffee Shop (Plate Lunches), Meat Market, Telephone Company, and
eventually a Beer Garden.
At first movies were shown by Bert Smith in the Beer Garden. Bert
was the town barber. Then Frank Boeck came to town and experimented
with motion pictures in the Beer Garden until he was convinced that a
theater could make it here. So, he built the Mariposa Theater (now
occupied by the downtown gym) on the site of the old livery stable.
Only the Charles St. Dinner House is the remaining historic building
on that side of the street. Then, when you think about it the
theater building is historic also. Egad.
I have experienced the dynamics of a community that is on one hand
very fragile and on the other very tough. The greatest change in my
life has been the people. From a mid WWII town with a few young
families with no economic future, to a community that could for the
first time in its history loose what we believed to be the greatest
source of economic survival and yet continue on with aggressive hope;
speaks to all the positive changes that we—and I mean we—have seen
over the last 64 years, and perhaps beyond.
After WWII, many young men and families came or returned to Mariposa.
There was no economy. Yosemite National Park was more a source of
employment and enjoyment rather than simply a source of economic
largess. The federal government rushed to employ these young men by
starting a number of projects that all required the strong young men
who had just returned from war. Road building and projects like the
"Blister Rust" camps kept them working and eating. The military
training taught them how to work together to accomplish a goal.
Similar to the CCC camps from before the war, mess halls were
re-opened and employment was easy to find. But the simple
quasi-military life was not at all what these young men had in mind.
They wanted more. They wanted families, education, a better life,
the promise of the defeat of our enemies. Some tried through
education; some through small business and farming. Chicken Ranches
sprang up all over, along with hog operations and the like; usually
on small parcels which could be acquired with little or no down
payment. A 160 ac parcel was large compared to the size of some of
these Chicken operations. All of this brought on the development of
small fuel oil operations. A veteran with a tank truck of some kind
could deliver heating oil and make a business. (Much like the
propane operations today). Butane did not come until the late
l940's.
Small and medium size saw mills opened all over the county. By l946
there were as many as twenty of these operations, along with the
loggers and truckers that supported the industry. Run away lumber
trucks sailing through Mariposa with their weak air horns blowing,
became common. One Highway Patrol , "Bub" Johnstone, would park in
front of the Standard (Chevron) Station in late afternoon just on the
chance that one was on the way. Then he would set off the siren to
warn the town. Best result was the fact that after making it through
downtown, the steep hill leaving town on Hwy 140 would slow and stop
the truck to allow either repair or cooling of the overheating
brakes. The long downhill run from the Summit on Hwy 140 was more
than the pre-war logging trucks could take. War surplus equipment
was cheap and available, and put to use in many ways. Quickly
designed and built, most of these trucks were tough no doubt but not
intended to haul over-loaded trailers of wet lumber to the plaining
mills in the San Joaquin Valley. It got to the point that working at
the Soda Fountain at the Mariposa Drug was often interrupted by the
rumble of a run away logging truck. We would rush out the front door
to wave at Eddie Zimmerman or the like on his way through town. Keep
your kids and dogs off the street in the afternoon while the days
sawing flew by.
(Much more to come) 

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 only courthouse West of the Mississippi 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