AUTO TOUR 



107 



( 1.7 miles) 

 GEOLOGICAL EXHIBIT —Between 

 Richardsons and Savage Trading Post a 

 geological exhibit may be seen on the 

 right of way. It describes the oldest 

 rocks of the Yosemite region, to be seen 

 across the river. These were formed as 

 ancient sea deposits changed into rock. 

 They produced the original Sierra range 

 now largely worn away, its place being 

 taken by the granite of the present 

 Sierra. 



( 1.6 miles) 



SAVAGE TRADING POST— Not 



far from the junction of the Merced 

 River and its south fork stood the first 

 trading post of the area, establishd by 

 James D. Savage in 1849. Savage em- 

 ployed native Indians to mine gold for 

 him. How much gold dust Savage ac- 

 quired was .never reported but he was 

 rumored to have had "barrels full" of 

 it. After an attack in 1850 by Yosem- 

 ite Indians Savage moved the trading 

 post to a new location near Mariposa. 



HITES COVE MINE — About three 

 miles upstream on the south fork of the 

 Merced River is Hites Cove where John 

 Hite operated a mine from 1861 to 18 82. 

 Nearly $3,000,000 in gold was reported 

 taken from this mine with no great 

 depth needed for shafts. 



(1.5 miles) 



CLEARING HOUSE MINE-Between 

 the south fork and Incline is the site of 

 the Clearing House Mine. The approxi- 

 mate site is recognized by several houses 

 on the opposite side of the river. About 

 $1,000,000 in gold was taken from this 

 mine. The shafts were 1100 feet deep. 

 Operations were stopped in the early 

 1940s' because the mine could not be 

 freed of water. 



(1 mile) 

 INCLINE — Here the Yosemite Sugar 

 Sugar Pine Company carried on logging 



operations, using a two mile incline up 

 the side of the mountain. It was oper- 

 ated by hooking a cable to a loaded flat 

 car at the top of the mountain and to 

 an empty flat car at the bottom of the 

 mountain. As the loaded car descended 

 the grade it would pull the empty car 

 to the top. This operation took place 

 from 1924 to 1945. 



(3 miles) 



TUNGSTEN MILL— The mill which 

 you see across the river receives tungsten 

 ore from open mines in the immediate vi- 

 cinity. This operation, which started pro- 

 ducing in the spring of 195 5, is the only 

 active mining and milling in this area. 



(0.8 of a mile) 



BARIUM MINE— Across the river 

 is the site of the El Portal Mining Com- 

 pany's barium mine. The mine stopped 

 operations about 1947, principaally be- 

 cause of the decreasing use of barium in 

 drilling oil wells. 



( 1.2 miles to store) 



EL PORTAL — This community of 

 approximately 200 people became the 

 eastern terminus of the Yosemite Valley 

 Railroad in 1907. About the time the 

 laying of the railroad was completed the 

 railroad company built the 8 miles of 

 wagon road from the railhead to Yo- 

 semite Valley so that horse-drawn stages 

 could carry train passengers into the 

 park. This was when EI Portal received 

 its name. The railroad station stood on 

 the approximate location of the El Portal 

 Motor Inn and the Standard Oil 

 service station, while a hotel stood on 

 the hill a short distance to the northeast. 

 Directly across the river from the El 

 Portal store the Yosemite Lumber Com- 

 pany conducted an operation from 1911 

 to 1924 similar to the one at Incline. 



(1 mile) 

 YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK — 



Upon entering the park turn to page 

 67 and follow the self-guiding tour 

 for Yosemite Valley. 



