AUTO TOUR 



65 



that a toll road, the Coulterville Road, 

 was built, allowing stage travel to the 

 valley floor. It was followed within a 

 month by a competing toll road, the old 

 Big Oak Flat Road. In the autumn of 

 1874 Washburn, Chapman, Coffman 

 and Company received permission to ex- 

 tend their toll road from Wawona to 

 the valley, thus completing the road from 

 Mariposa, the first from the south. In 

 1877 Coffman sold his interests and the 

 company became the Yosemite Stage and 

 Turnpike Company, the first organized 

 stageline in Yosemite. During the 1880's 

 the Nevada Stage Company ran stages 

 from Stockton to Yosemite Valley via 

 Milton and the old Big Oak Flat Road. 

 Scheduled stage runs over this route end- 

 ed in 188 8, although there was irregular 

 stage coach travel over this road past 

 the turn of the century. 



The days of the stage coach were num- 

 bered with the building of the Yosemite 

 Valley Railroad in 1907 from Merced to 

 El Portal. Upl)irrts--e^mpletion^ the rail- 

 road company built a wagon roacTTror 

 the railhead to the Coulterville Road in 

 Yosemite Valley so that horse-drawn 

 stages could carry train passengers into 

 the park. This was when El Portal — the 

 portal — received its name. 



In 1913 stage companies operating in 

 and to the park established the then 

 famous Horseshoe Route running from 

 Raymond to Yosemite Valley and return 

 to Merced. Another well-known stage 

 circuit was the Triangle Route, operated 

 from El Portal past Big Meadows to the 

 Tuolumne Grove of Big Trees and then 



via the old Big Oak Flat Road to Yo- 

 semite Valley. These several stage routes 

 came to an end with the consolidation 

 and reorganization of transportation and 

 hotel accommodations in the park in 192 5 

 under a corporation that is known today 

 as the Yosemite Park and Curry Com- 

 pany. The transportation division of this 

 company operates bus stages throughout 

 the park and between the park, Merced, 

 Fresno and Lake Tahoe under franchises 

 with the U. S. Department of the Inter- 

 ior, the California Public Utilities Com- 

 mission and the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission. This division still uses the 

 old name, Yosemite Transportation Sys- 

 tem, formerly identified with the trans- 

 portation department of the old Desmond 

 Company. 



The building of the Merced Ail-Year 

 Highway in 1926, the growth of mass 

 automobile travel and the subsequent 

 loss of. passenger and freight revenue, 

 led the Yosemite Valley Railroad to aban- 

 donment in 1945. In the travel year of 

 Imost a million visitors like your- 

 selves came to the park, mostly by pri- 

 vate automobile. For you there are some 

 217 miles of public roads to various parts 

 of the park and about 750 miles of trails 

 to permit you to enjoy the wilderness 

 features of Yosemite. It is with your 

 pleasure in mind that this self-guiding 

 auto tour booklet has been prepared, that 

 you may have greater opportunity to ap- 

 preciate, enjoy, and protect the unique 

 scenic wilderness values of Yosemite Na- 

 tional Park. 



Early Touring in Yosemite Valley 



