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