Mineral King Road

“We consider the new mines (in Mineral King) the richest ever found on the Pacific Coast.” ~Tulare Times, 11/12/1873.

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Talk was worthless,

Getting to the mines was everything.

Three-thousand dollars was raised by merchants

To build a road to the Mineral King Mining District.

One crew made up of Chinese laborers

And white men who oversaw the work,

Pushed a road upward

Through chapparal and around rock cliffs.

Eighty men were employed,

With plows and scrappers to work on the road,

Blasting through solid rock.

The road was built to the edge of snow

By the winter of 1874.

The road to Mineral King

Was constructed for one reason:

To exploit perceived mineral riches

From the narrow alpine valley,

Between peaks and high mountains,

With seemingly endless mineral deposits

Ready for discovery.

Twenty-five miles long,

A road with 700 curves

Climbs 6,650 feet in elevation.

Originally, a Native American trail,

A footpath over mountains,

Steep stone cliffs, canyon-walls

Formed by the ancient

West-flowing river,

A wooded-range sheltered

At the head of the East Fork

Of the Kaweah River.

In the gold and silver rushes,

Getting supplies to the mines was paramount.

A road needed now to carry merchandise

Up, bring the mined riches down.

Up the east fork on the southside

For ten miles, the road crossed the river

Eighteen miles from Harry’s Bend.

Five or six ugly miles ahead

Before reaching the pine lands,

On the lower end of Lone Horse Canyon.

At Lookout Point, the road traversed

The river near the McGinnis Ranch

North of Atwell’s Mill, then joined up

With the old Lovelace Cattle Trail.

Only the best teamsters

Drove the Mineral King Road.

A road so steep in some places

Six horses, or mules pulling a loaded wagon

Could only move one wagon-length

Before having to rest.

The River Hill Grade, a one-mile stretch

Took hours to climb.

At Watson’s Station, formerly

The original toll-road post,

Now called Hammond, on Whalthley Flat,

Offered rest for travelers.

At Bear Ranch, or Red Hill Summit

The route changed from the southside

Of the canyon to the north.

The dirt road followed the contours,

Down to the East Fork of the river

Then crossed the bridge

At the River Bridge Toll-Station.

Mostly unpaved, the road is the same today.

By Stephen Barile

From: United States