Travel through Time: The History of Sonora Pass By Wayne Kirkbride
Mountain passes in the 19th Century from Nevada Territory into California were fraught with difficulty. The Sierra Nevada Mountain range stood as an obstacle for both emigrants coming west and for merchants in California hoping to expand business opportunities on the eastern slopes of the Sierra and the emerging markets in Nevada.
Since the 1841 Bidwell-Bartleson Party that struggled across the mountains north of the Walker River Trail, a way, hopefully easier, was sought as early as 1853. That year, a group of Sonora, California residents met at Ward’s Saloon to discuss the building of a road that would cross the Sierra, thus opening up business for Sonora, Stockton and other communities. A sum of $1400 was collected which was intended to improve the Walker River Trail. What, if any improvements may have been made is unknown, and other locations came under consideration for a viable route.
Early Sonora Pass
A portion of what was later to become a section of the Sonora-Mono Road was built in 1852 from Sonora to what is now called Confidence. The road was built by the Tuolumne County Water Company in connection with its project on the South Fork of the Stanislaus River to bring water for the working of the gold bearing placers in the Columbia district. A portion of the original road route is still used from Sonora to The Dardanelles.
When Nevada miners discovered Silver, which became known as the Comstock Strike in 1859 and gold in areas in Mono County, California, miners in the California Mother Lode, and especially the Southern Mines in and around Sonora, were eager to move on to greener pickings. The easy gold of the Mother Lode was disappearing.
Towns like Aurora and Virginia City were dependent on the West coast country of California for their supplies of food, fruit and vegetables, and materials essential to mining operations. Because the existing trails across the mountains were insufficient, increasing interest arose for the construction of a road from Sonora to Nevada Territory over which freight wagons could travel in quantity to those population districts.
Interest in a road from Sonora to Aurora gave rise to money being authorized by Congress in 1861 for the construction of a road over Sonora Pass. A contractor named J.B. Carter was paid $400,000 to build the road, but the amount proved insufficient. With acts from the California legislature in 1862 and the creation of the Sonora-Mono Road Commission, two counties, Tuolumne and San Joaquin became the predominant forces behind the efforts to finance the road as they had the most to gain with shipments over the pass to Mono and beyond. After wrangling about the best route, Stanislaus County was added to the Commission and finally the present day route was selected. The first contract to build the road was awarded to J.F. Patterson and James Allan in 1864. The route would follow the Sonora Trail from Confidence to Strawberry Flat; from there northerly and across the South Fork of the Stanislaus River to the top of the ridge and down the ridge to the flat where Cow Creek Ranger station is now located; then northeasterly and following the ridge above the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River and down into the canyon of Middle Fork at what is now Brightman Flat and from there following the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus easterly to a point near where Baker’s Station is now located. There the road planners were temporarily stumped. The big climb was still ahead of them. From that point they had a choice of three routes to the summit, and they finally decided to build the road along its present course, paralleling as near as possible the course of the stream now know as Deadman Creek to the summit; and from there with as little grade as possible down to Leavitt Meadow, then along the West Walker River and leaving the West Walker easterly to Fales Hot Springs and then on to Aurora and Monoville.
As construction on the road progressed, it became evident that available funds would not be enough. So, to finance the project, it was decided the road would be a toll road with a toll contract let for 20 years to the contractor. The first tollgate was set up at the Williams ranch in present day Twain Harte, along the current Twain Harte Drive. An historical marker notes the location today. Another tollgate was placed in Sugarpine because travelers would often bypass the tollgate by other trails through the forest. Alfred Fuller, an Ohioan who came to the area during the 1850s, and took a Mi Wuk wife and lived near “The Rock” on what was then the Calder Ranch, was hired to operate the Twain Harte Toll Gate of the Sonora-Mono Toll Road. He continued in that job until the 1890s when the County took over the maintenance of the road.
There was considerable traffic over this road even before its completion. Heavy loads of foods, fruit and vegetables were going over the summit as early as 1864 to the gold and silver camps of Mono County and western Nevada.
When gold deposits gave out in the Mono area, travel over the road was rare and within a few years the road became almost impassable.
Little was done as far as maintenance on this road until 1901 when the State of California declared it a State Highway from Long Barn to Bridgeport. Even then only minor repairs were made to make it passable. This was the existing condition until 1908, when, with the construction of Relief Dam the road was improved as far as Baker Station. In 1919 the section from Long Barn to Sonora was paved. The majority of the road remained a rugged journey by wagon or by horseback. There were some brave souls who owned automobiles who braved the conditions and traveled in the summer between Sonora and Brightman Flat.
The road remained part paved, part graded, dirt road until the early 1940s at which time the remaining graded portion was paved. Since that time there has been considerable realignment and improvement to the old Sonora Mono Toll Road.
Today, this route, highway 108, serves as a main route for movement of timber from the Stanislaus National Forest, moving cattle to and from grazing areas, and travelers and outdoor enthusiasts seeking hiking experiences, fishing, hunting, or just taking in the grandeur of the high country as they drive over the Sonora Pass, elevation 9625 feet, the second highest trans-Sierra pass.
Sources: Lorna Scazighini, Sonora Banner, 8/2/51, Historical Notes W.C. Coffill, 10/10/67, Rollands Express Records, Hoover, Mildred-Historic Spots in California, The American Flag Newspaper, 9/11/1862, www.twainharteecc.com/history.aspx
