California highways : a descriptive record of road development by the state and by such counties as have paved highways
r. ? \. ^ <,^ <^ c y Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.archive.org/details/californiahigliwaOOblowrich CALIFORNIA HIGHWAYS CALIFORNIA HIGHWAYS A DESCRIPTIVE RECORD OF ROAD DEVELOPMENT BY THE STATE AND BY SUCH COUNTIES AS HAVE PAVED HIGHWAYS By BEN BLOW Manager Good Roads Bureau, Califorma State Automobile Atiociation San Francisco 1920 COPYRIGHT, 1920 BY BEN BLOW PRINTED BY THE H. S. CROCKER CO., INC. SAN FRANCISCO DEDICATED TO THE WOMEN OF CALIFORNIA WHO HAVE HELPED MORE THAN ANY OTHER AGENCY IN THE FIGHT FOR GOOD ROADS FOREWORD THE many inquiries which have come to the Good Roads Bureau of the California State Automobile Association during the past few years have served to emphasize the fact that there is a widespread and continuing demand for infor- mation as to California's state and county highways, while as a matter of fact no such publication has been extant. The present volume has been prepared to meet that de- mand. It is in no sense a technical work, library shelves being full of such publications. Nor is it, even remotely, intended to be a touring guide, as road conditions change from day to day. It is intended merely to tell what has been done in Cali- fornia as to the development of state and county highway systems, to picture how the present movement came into such a tremendous swing; and every attempt has been made to mention those men and women who took an active part. The subject, naturally a dry one, has been treated in a more or less popular way. Yet the information put forth has been gathered from reliable sources and every attempt has been made to have it accurate. None the less it is entirely possible that inaccuracies have crept in, so comment and criticism are cordially invited in order that future editions may be free from any material fault. San Francisco, December i, 1919. Ben Blow. [VII] CONTENTS CBAPTEK PAGE I. The Three State Highway Bond Issues ... i II. The Bureau of Highways 12 III. State Roads 20 IV. The California Highway Commission ... 27 V. Type of Road and Construction 35 VI. Convict Labor 41 VII. Maintenance — Road Load — Safety— Signing — Tree Planting — Camp Sites 47 VIII. The Various Highway Commissioners and Office Personnel 55 IX. Division I — ^The Elimination of the Bell Springs Grade 59 X. Division II — Building the State Highway Up The Sacramento River Canyon 65 XI. Division III — ^The Building of the Sacramento- Yolo Causeway 71 XII. Division IV — ^The Boulevard Around San Fran- cisco AND San Pablo Bays 76 XIII. Division V — The San Juan Mountain and Zaca Canyon Controversies. ... 81 XIV. Division VI — The Northern Part of The Tejon- Castaic Ridge Route 87 XV. Division VII — ^The Tejon-Castaic Ridge Route AND THE COLOR>VDO DeSERT 94 XVI. State Highway Routes lOO XVII. State Highway Routes no [ix] Contents CHAPTER rAGB XVIII. Campaigning For Good Roads. 120 XIX. California's Good Roads Counties. , 125 XX. Alameda County 132 XXI. Contra Costa County 138 XXII. Fresno County 144 XXIII. Kern County 150 XXIV. Kings County 156 XXV. Los Angeles County 162 XXVI. Marin Counjy 168 XXVII. Merced County 174 XXVIII. Monterey County 180 XXIX. Napa County 186 XXX. Orange County 192 XXXI, Riverside County 198 XXXII. Sacramento County 204 XXXIII. San Bernardino County 210 XXXIV. San Francisco City and County 216 XXXV. San Joaquin County 222 XXXVI. San Mateo County 228 XXXVII. Santa Barbara County 234 XXXVIII. Santa Clara County 240 XXXIX. Santa Cruz County 246 XL, Solano County 252 XLI. Sonoma County 258 XLII. Stanislaus County 264 XLIII. Sutter County 270 XLIV. Tulare County 276 XLV. Yolo County. ^ 282 XLVI. Conclusion 288 Index 289 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS In the Amazing Humboldt Redwoods Frontispiece rACINO PAGB Start of State Highway Construction Work i State Highway Construction 3 State Highway on Ocean Shore 6 Valley and Coast State Highway Views ....... 7 State Highway Bridges 10 State Highway Bridges 11 The Bureau of Highways and Maje 14 Primitive Suspension Bridge 15 Lake Tahoe Wagon Road 20 On Peanut Road 21 On the Ridge Road 24 Guard Rail and Curb on Ridge Road. 25 Yolo Causeway 28 Banked Curves 29 Pouring a Concrete Road from a Barge 32 Example of Oiled Road ^^ Early Concrete Road Test 36 State Highway Bridge and Yolo Causeway 37 Convict Labor Scenes 42 Eel River and Rattlesnake Creek Scenes 43 They Wear no Stripes 46 [xi] Li^T OF Illustrations rACINO PAOB Coast Highway South of San Francisco 47 Guard Rails and Concrete Curbs 48 On Altamont Pass 49 California State Automobile Association Sign 50 Automobile Club of Southern California Sign 51 Tree Planting on State Highway 52 Tree Planting in San Mateo County ^2 State Highway Organization 56 Scenes on State Highway 57 In Division I 60 Scotia Bridge 61 Humboldt County Bridge 62 Reconnaissance and Survey Work 63 Scenes in Division II 64 Before and After in Sacramento Canyon 6^ Scenes North of Redding 66 Shasta. 67 Black Butte 68 Pit River Bridge 69 Shasta Canyon 70 State Highway in Yreka 71 Placerville-Lake Tahoe Road 74 Scenes in Division III 75 Above Carquinez Strait 76 Detail of Concrete Curb. 77 In Division IV 80 San Juan Grade 81 Bridge Near San Luis Obispo 84 North Approach to Cuesta Grade 85 On Cuesta Grade 86 [XII] List of Illustrations FACING PAGE Scenes in Division VI 87 Pavement in Mountains 90 Wide Roadway in Mountains 91 CoNEjo Grade 94 RiNCON Causeway 95 El Cajon Valley 96 Before and After on Coast 97 Plank Road, New and Old 98 Building Plank Road 99 Start of Route I 100 Mendocino Redwoods loi Government Road in Yosemite 104 In Colorado Desert 105 In Mono County 106 Down Bear Creek Canyon 107 Concrete in Imperial Valley 108 Drifting Sand Dunes 109 Yellow Pines of Modoc no Hundred AND One Mile Drive in Tioga Road AND In Mono County iia Over Donner Lake 113 State Highway in Amador County 118 MojAVE Desert 119 We Love Our County 120 Comparisons Are Odious 121 Demonstration Road 122 Campaign Picture 123 Tunnel Road 132 Alameda County Highway 133 On Oakland's Skyline Boulevard 136 [ xiii ] List of Illustrations FACING PAGE Looking Down Over Oakland 137 In the San Ramon Valley 138 Wide Roads in Contra Costa County 139 Between Walnut Creek Ahfo Oakland 142 Novel Form of Construction in Contra Costa 143 Sample of Fresno County Road 144 Oiled Road in Fresno County 145 Traffic in Oil Fields 148 Kearney Boulevard 149 Grapevine Canyon 150 Seventeen Mile Tangent 151 Tree Planting in Kern County 154 In the Kern Oil Fields 155 Paved Road in Kings 156 Odd Traffic in Kings 157 Highway Scenes in Kings 160 Between Orchards and Vineyards 161 Colorado Street Bridge 162 Fremont Pass, Newhall Tunnel, Topango Canyon, Cahuenga Pass 163 Boulevard Lighting 166 Mint Canyon Road 167 Across Alpine Dam 168 North of San Rafael 169 On Slope of Tamalpais 172 Along Bolinas Bay 173 Into Merced County 174 Campaigning Under Difficulties 175 Cox Ferry Bridge 178 Pacheco Pass Road 179 [ XIV ] List of Illustrations FACING PAGE Near Carmel 180 In Monterey County 181 Between Salinas and Monterey 184 Monterey County Views ; 185 Monticello Bridge 186 Near Calistoga 187 Between St. Helena AND Calistoga 190 Between Napa and Rutherford 191 Wide Highway in Orange County 192 On THE Orange County Coast 193 Highway, Irrigation and Oranges 196 In THE Oil Fields OF Orange County 197 Magnolia Avenue 198 Road up Mount Roubidoux , , 199 Near Banning 202 Highway and Date Ranch 203 FoLSOM Bridge. ' 204 Natomas Road 205 Between Hood and Franklin 208 On Levee Road 209 Bridge Over Colorado River 210 The Rim OF THE World 211 Cajon Pass 214 Map OF Hundred and One Mile Drive 215 Looking Down Market Street 216 Great Highway 217 Twin Peaks 220 Seal Rocks and Cliff House 221 Jactone Road 222 San Joaquin Highway 223 [XV] List of imrsTRATiONs PAGE On Borden Highway 226 Oil Macadam Road 227 In San Mateo County 228 On San Pedro Mountain 229 San Mateo County Scenes 232 Bay Shore Road and Half Moon Bay Road 233 Entrance into Santa Barbara County 234 Concrete Highway Built by Supervisors 235 Highway Tree Planting 236 A Gift to the State 237 On Mount Hamilton 240 In the Orchards 241 Brick Road 244 Prunes 245 Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz 246 Looking Toward Santa Cruz 247 View from Boulder Creek Road 250 Inspiration Point 251 Solano County Foothills 252 Entrance to Vaca Valley 253 Rio Vista Bridge 256 Green Valley Road. 257 Russian River Bridge 258 Sonoma Coast Road 259 Sixty-Four Thousand, Eight Hundred Eggs 262 Various Sonoma County Roads 263 A Stanislaus Highway 264 Major Annear 265 Concrete Runway to Garage and Dry Creek Bridge. 268 DoBE Fill and Roberts Ferry Bridge 269 [xvi] List of Illustrations rACINO PAGB NicoLAUs Bridge 270 Between Live Oak and Pennington 271 On the State Highway 274 Sutter Buttes 275 Highway AND Orange Groves 276 Tulare County Sign 277 Along Kaweah River 280 Old Road and New Highway 281 Yolo Causeway 282 In Capay Valley 283 Concrete Trestles 286 Heavy Road Tonnage 287 LIST OF MAPS PAOX Highway System of Bureau OF Highways 18 San Juan Routing 82 Zaca Canyon Routing 83 Alameda 134-135 Contra Costa 140-141 Fresno 146-147 Kern 152-153 Kings .*. CHAPTER I THE THREE STATE HIGHWAY BOND ISSUES WHENEVER engineers discuss road building or automobile owners talk of touring over smooth highways the California state road system is almost invariably mentioned, for California, with its rugged topography, its thousand- mile stretch of coast line, and its hundreds of miles from east to west, has set the pace in highway construction for older and more thickly settled and far richer states. Three State Highway bond issues, aggregating $73,000,- 000, have been passed by the people of California, the first, for $18,000,000, in 1910 by 12,786 votes, fourteen of Cali- fornia's fifty-eight counties being opposed; the second, for $15,000,000, in 1916 by a plurality of 405,132, not a single county going against the bonds; while the third, passed on July I, 1 91 9, was for $40,000,000, the vote being 196,084 for to 27,992 against. Under the first bond issue a trunk line system was pro- posed with two main highways extending from Mexico to Oregon, one up through the great interior valleys which reach from north to south between the Coast Range moun- tains and the Sierra Nevadas; the other along the western slope of the Coast Range, in the main close to the ocean shore. From one or the other of these main trunk lines, the law provided that laterals should be built to every county seat in the state, and the fact that too great a mileage was out-" lined, in comparison to the money provided, in all prob- ability had something to do with the meager plurality by which the bonds went through. That the men responsible for the building of the California California Highways State Highway system had a troublous time is part of California's road-building history. The high finance they engaged in to stretch out their meager fund^ would have done credit to Wallingford and Blackie Daw, save for the fact that it was done in a worthy cause. They dickered with Boards of Supervisors and got them to provide rights of way and such bridges as were over twenty feet in span. They got the various Portland cement manufacturers to quote them a scandalous price upon cement. The rock and sand and gravel dealers listened to their tearful pleadings, wept with them and chopped their prices to the core. And even the Southern Pacific Railway, popularly regarded in those good old corporation-baiting days as an octopus, cut its freight rates on materials for the State Highway practically in half in the face of a very general opinion that all railroads were opposed to highway irriprovement as supplying undesirable competition. All of these things having been accomplished, the High- way Commission perhaps thought that it was to have a period of pleasant peace. But it was not. To build roads money was needed. To get money required the sale of bonds and these bonds, by state law, must be sold for not less than par, while, as a matter of fact, par was not to be had. So trouble arose again and more frenzied finance was engaged in, the result being that those friends of the Highway Commission, the various Boards of Supervisors throughout the state, once more stepped in and paid par for bonds, supplied the necessary cash and work was thus enabled to go on. After this, all was easy sailing, as easy as it could be when the fact that the Highway Commission was charged with building about ^50,000,000 worth of roads for $18,000,000 is taken into consideration. So they went placidly to work surveying here and there, the first shovel of earth on Con- iract One of the concrete State Highway system being moved by Commissioner Burton Towne on August 7, 191 2, in San Mateo County on the highway leading from San Francisco to the south. That a second bond issue would be needed was a foregone * -^" L" o « «"! -^ ■^ "^ ^ Cc^k^^c? ^ s; R .bo bo ^ o K ^1^ "- ^ - ^.^-^ •«^ ':; ^ G ^ ►> .■^ f^ >>» •♦« »^> Vi R 1^^ »; S3 « «^ « i'= rS ^ ^ :i.' «>3 Vi k, og Q ^ 1 -l^ « >l <i 1 --$^^1 1 « .. fc^o^ ed i tion win eep S S C! ••^ 5 '^j ^ i; S r, o ^ll-S =::; -^ g « "5S O ^ *-% ^* :;:s-||o S ^ s. -, •2 1 ^ §. ^o -^ 1i ' stru Htg nth hich § ^ J ^^ '^ 5 -^ ^ ^C/3 g « g ^ b< ^ -1 ^ ^^^ ixo "->* O • ~ >-i Q Vj Q <S ^ O ° O "^i bo o O ^ ^ ^ . ^ S r^ a o -1 ^ t3 § <^ •ii g Q <^ S^ -«; The Three State Highway Bond Issues conclusion as soon as the first was passed, so in 191 6 the State Highway Commission put a modest request before the Legislature for another ^12,000,000, whereupon the Legisla- ture with just about the same degree of thought that one devotes to taking a little boy out and buying him an ice cream cone, tacked on ^3,000,000, threw in about |io,ooo,- 000 worth of additional roads, and this bond issue, as has been set forth above, sailed through easily, somewhat to the dismay of the Highway Commission. There is an old adage about troubles resembling quail in habit; so, shortly after the passage of the second bond issue, other troubles arose. The United States began to experience abnormal conditions, prices went up — of labor and all sorts of supplies. And then the United States plunged into war and a multitude of boards and commissions and dollar-a- year men appeared like mushrooms, earnestly and sincerely, in the main, trying to help win the war but gumming things up in relation to construction work until in practically every section of the United States highway building was halted, the work done by the California Highway Commission being the only work of magnitude which was carried on. Just what thin ice the men in charge of State Highway construction in California skated over during the war is known to a few of us. What frenzied appeals were sent to Washington, with an occasional hurried trip to the same volcanic area, what finesse was necessary to keep road work advancing, happily turned out all right. And then Germany reached the end of the trail and blew up into forty million pieces, that being the number of its inhabitants, and the fever for highway building in California became hectic once again and resulted in the third State Highway bond issue. It may be said that the first two State Highway bond issues were sort of cut-and-dried affairs, the program in the second one being varied slightly by the legislature, as has been told above. In the main, however, the Governor, his advisers, and the Highway Commission were the men who had the say-so, which was far from being the case in the one that was passed on July i, 191 9. [3] California Highways In considering this bond issue it may not be inapt to quote the closing paragraph of the "First Biennial Report" of the California Highway Commission, issued under date of December 31, 191 8, which reads as follows: "The data embodied herein may suggest still further legislation and any co-operation by the legislature of 191 9 tending to the betterment of State Highway work will be appreciated by the commission." Inasmuch as this biennial report had confessed, in thoroughly dignified and ethical language, that the State Highway Commission, owing to the general high cost of living, was "busted" and would have to shut up shop unless some more money was supplied, the paragraph quoted may be taken as a wild yell for help. The intention of the Highway Commission was as a matter of fact, if properly encouraged, to ask for a further allotment of ^10,000,000, which would serve to carry on road-building work in a modest way, but up to the last week of the first session of the legislature no friendly hand had reached out to extend them help. The session of the California legislature, it may not be inapt to state, consists of three distinct periods, the first being the period when organization is had, resolutions are passed, and bills introduced. The second period is the recess, wherein legislators are supposed to quietly ruminate over the laws proposed. The third period is that unhappy time when the many are called and the few are chosen, when proposed legislation is called up, debated upon, and some- times passed, a provision being embodied in the law that each legislator shall have the privilege of introducing two bills in the last session if he cares so to do. This slight digression is excusable, perhaps, to emphasize the fact that while the Highway Commission, like Barkis, was willin', no bill to provide more funds had up to Thurs- day, January 23d, the next to last day of the first session of the 1 91 9 California legislature, been introduced. On that day, however, in the Highways Committee room of the Senate a meeting was held to discuss the formation of a road district for the purpose of securing the development [4] The Three State Highway Bond Issues of the "Skyline Boulevard," south from San Francisco through the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz. The man presiding at this meeting was M. B. Johnson of Montara, representing San Mateo, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties in the State Senate, and those present were J. A. Harvey, chairman, and George H. Rostron, of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors; Richard J. Welch, E. J. Brandon, and Joseph Lahaney, of the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors with H. A. Mason acting in an advisory capacity; George G. Radcliff of Watson ville, Santa Cruz County; Austin B. Fletcher, highway engineer, with N. D. Darlington, chairman, Emmett Phillips, and C. C. Carlton, attorney, of the California Highway Com- mission; Burton A. Towne of Lodi and Ben Blow of San Francisco, together representing the California State Auto- mobile Association. When the business dealing with the Skyline Boulevard had reached conclusion the troubles of the State Highway Commission became the subject of informal discussion, much sympathy being offered these gentlemen, and finally a motion was put " that this gathering resolve itself into a committee of citizens of the state of California to take up the matter of another State Highway bond issue, and that Mr. Johnson be requested forthwith to confer with Governor Stephens and ask him if he would give audience with this committee." This motion was promptly seconded, and after a brief interval those present were advised that the Governor would be pleased to entertain them briefly, which happiness was shortly aflForded him, the question being asked if he was in favor of another State Highway bond issue. The Governor was. He made a nice little speech in saying so. He said that he believed in good roads — was proud of the work the California Highway Commission had done — thought that more roads were needed — and that he was back of the plan lock, stock, barrel, gunpowder, shot, and wad- ding, or words to that effect. [5] California Highways. Whereupon the committee repaired once more to the committee room and upon motion a committee of six was selected: M. B. Johnson of Montara, chairman; Adolph Mack of San Francisco, representing the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce; Ralph Hamlin of Los Angeles, representing the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; Jonathan Dodge of Los Angeles, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and representing the State Association of Boards of Supervisors ; Henry Keller of Los Angeles, repre- senting the Good Roads Committee of the Automobile Club of Southern California; and Burton A. Towne of Lodi, representing the Good Roads Bureau of the California State Automobile Association, who was named as secretary. It was further moved and seconded that this committee be directed to meet at once in San Francisco for the purpose of issuing a state- wide call to boards of supervisors, chambers of commerce, woman's clubs, farm bureaus, and various other organizations to gather and discuss the matter of another State Highway bond issue and fix the amount there- for. In other words, the plan was to program the matter, vastly good politics when a program can be put across, and various meetings were held at the office of the California State Auto- mobile Association, in San Francisco, by the committee of six with numerous volunteer advisers, and invitations to attend a good roads mass meeting were sent broadcast throughout the state. As the result of these invitations, on February 12, in the rooms of the Board of Supervisors in the San Francisco City Hall, an aggregation of road boosters gathered, forty-nine of the fifty-eight counties of the state being represented — when, with a few well-chosen remarks, Mayor James Rolph, Jr., told them how glad he was to see them and how much the state of California needed more highways. Whereupon arose a stout-hearted (and it may be said a stout-fisted) Supervisor from a nearby county and on behalf of his brethren from the country said that undoubtedly all present were in favor of good roads but that they objected [6] ' . ^''>' ' •-• ^ i t*f,fi'?i^i 3! ^ Q ^ S "? •^ St .-'-'in: ^ -*""**< ' State Highway in Fresno County. This is one of Cali- fornia's best known road pictures. State Highway in Santa Clara County. The Three State Highway Bond Issues strenuously to being called together to be programmed by a few paid employees of automobile associations, which he had heard was to be attempted, glowering meanwhile at the particular representative of the automobile association he had in mind. "Very well, then," said the chairman, Mr. Johnson, the tapping of his gavel sounding like the efforts of a half-grown woodpecker on a far-off stump, "no program goes if you don't want it, but I believe that everybody present does want to see the State Highway finished. To do that, we are told, will take ^20,000,000. I'll entertain a motion that it is the sense of this convention that a new State Highway bond issue should be provided for by the legislature, to include the sum of ^20,000,000 for finishing up the system already proposed and to include such further sum as this convention shall decide upon for the inclusion of other roads." No sooner said than done. This motion carried enthu- siastically, whereupon it was moved and seconded that a committee of twenty-one be appointed by the chair to act in conjunction with the officers already selected in deciding upon what roads should finally have approval and in what amount the proposed bond issue should be. The officers presiding over the convention were M. B. Johnson, chairman; Burton A. Towne, secretary; and forthwith Mr. Johnson named the following com- mittee of twenty-one: Henry Barker, Northern California Hotel Men's Association; Michael Casey, International Teamsters Association; F. A. Cook, Southern California Hotel Men's Association ; Jonathan S. Dodge, State Associa- tion of Boards of Supervisors ; T. F. Flaherty, Board of Supervisors of Riverside County; Edward Fletcher, San Diego Chamber of Commerce; Ralph Hamlin, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; J. A. Harvey, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors; Henry Keller, Automobile Club of Southern California; Adolph Mack, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce; Thomas Maxwell, Napa County Board of Supervisors; John MacBain, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors; Thomas McCormack, Solano County [7] California Highways Board of Supervisors ; Margaret McGovern, New Era League ; B. B. Meek, Oroville Chamber of Commerce; John S. Mitchell, California Development Board; Daniel Murphy, State Federation of Labor; J. K. O'Brien, Tahoe-to-Ukiah Association ; R. L. Riley, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors; Fred Shaffer, Yolo Board of Trade; Richard J. Welch, San Francisco Board of Supervisors. This done, the committee settled down to consideration of the various roads presented and for three days and part of some nights it deliberated, while fights were going on all over the lot; the final determination being arrived at that approximately ^40,000,000 was the proper sum and that pretty nearly any road that anybody wanted ought to go in. Whereupon it adjourned, like a cat waiting at a mousehole, and glued its collective eye upon the Legislature to see that it did not kick over the traces or perform any other untoward act. The Legislature, awed perhaps by the size and sincerity of the convention held in San Francisco, having confidence perhaps in the Senator from San Mateo, who had the matter in charge, performed as per schedule. A joint conference was had by the Senate Roads and Highways Committee (made up of M. B. Johnson, Montara; Frank H. Benson, San Jose; W. E. Duncan, Jr., Oroville; S. C. Evans, Riverside; Egbert J. Gates, South Pasadena; Dwight H. Hart, Los Angeles; J. L. C. Irwin, Hanford; Lyman M. King, Red- lands; Claude F. Purkitt, Willows; E. S. Rigdon, Cambria; B. F. Rush, Suisun ; E. P. Sample, San Diego; W. B. Shearer, Yreka; Herbert W. Slater, Santa Rosa; J. R. Thompson, Santa Barbara) and the Assembly Roads and Highways Com- mittee (consisting of Wm. J. Martin, chairman, Salinas; Crombie Allen, Ontario; J. Stanley Brown, El Centro; W. E. Callahan, Antioch; F. J. Cummings, Ferndale; W. A. Doran, San Marcos; Walter Eden, Santa Ana; F. L. Eks- ward, Burlingame; A. P. Fleming, Los Angeles; W. C. Oakley, Santa Maria; Ivan H. Parker, Auburn; Harry Polsley, Red Bluff; A. F. Sterns, Healdsburg; C. P. Vicini, Jackson; Guy Windrem, Madera), the definite sum of ^40,- [8] The Three State Highway Bond Issues 000,000 was fixed upon, everybody's road, and a few others, put in, and the bill sailed through like fire in a hayfield. Other troubles arose, however. The State Highway Com- mission, overcoming its great native modesty, called atten- tion to the fact that it was at present financially embarrassed and that unless some extraordinary legislation was developed it would be teetotally "busted" before funds could be derived from the proposed bond issue, which, under existing laws, could not be voted upon before the fall of 1920 at the general election, a lapse of time which might just as well be a century so far as present pecuniary needs were concerned. And then arose a Moses with his rod and smote the rock and funds poured forth. Attorney General Webb was the man who finally evolved the plan of amending the constitu- tion of California to provide a further sum of 140,000,000 for State Highway construction by the sale of bonds, the one election serving the double purpose of amending the constitution of the state of California and providing ^40,- 000,000 for more roads. Immediately upon the setting of July i as the date for the election, the California Good Roads Campaign Committee was formed, with L. A. Nares of Fresno as chairman, the vice-chairmen being Francis Carr of Redding and Henry W. Keller of Los Angeles, while joint secretaries were named as follows: D. E. Watkins, manager California State Automobile Association, San Francisco; John F. Shea, secretary Northern California Hotel Men's Association; E. W. Casson, secretary Southern California Hotel Men's Association; and Standish L. Mitchell, secretary Automobile Club of Southern California. The general committeemen were as follows: C. J. Luttrell, Yreka; James K. O'Brien, Smartsville; Jules Alexander, Susanville; Frank Freeman, Willows; H. F. Ferrill, Eureka; Senator Herbert Slater, Santa Rosa; C. G. Leeson, Oroville; H. E. Welch, Lodi; Supervisor R. J. Welch, San Francisco; Daniel J. Murphy, San Francisco; Joseph E. Caine, Oakland; John L. D. Roberts, Seaside; E. L. Sherman, Mbdesto; Charles D. Blaney, Saratoga; Fred L. Baker, Los [9] California Highways Angeles County; Frank J. Belcher, Jr., San Diego County; F. B. Fuller, Imperial County; W. L. Benchley, Orange County; John H. Fisher, San Bernardino County; Frank A. Miller, Riverside County; C. A. Barlow, Kern County; C. D. Hubbard, Santa Barbara County; Ben Maddox, Tulare County; Charles Donlin, Ventura County; Dr. W. M. Stover, San Luis Obispo County; H. J. Nichols, Pomona. The county chairmen were: Mayor John L. Davie, Oak- land, Alameda County; James F. Parks, Plymouth, Amador County; W. B. Dean, Chico, Butte County; Clarence Getchell, San Andreas, Calaveras County; J. B. De Jarnatt, Colusa, Colusa County; Dr. C. H. Henderson, Martinez, Contra Costa County; W. P. Malone, Crescent City, Del Norte County; J. W. Shanklin, Placerville, El Dorado County; George Waterman, Fresno, Fresno County; Frank Leavitt, Willows, Glenn County; Jerry Millay, Eureka, Humboldt County; C. C. Spinks, Hanford, Kings County; C. C. McMahan, Bartlett Springs, Lake County ; L. R. Cady, Susan ville, Lassen County; H. B. Connert, Mariposa, Mari- posa County ; W. S. Orvis, Madera, Madera County; Caspar J. Gardner, Mill Valley, Marin County; Keith C. Eversole, Ukiah," Mendocino County; John R. Graham, Merced, Merced County; J. W. Cummings, Alturas, Modoc County; J. L. D. Roberts, Seaside, Monterey County; Supervisor Thomas Maxwell, Napa, Napa County; J. E. Taylor, Grass Valley, Nevada County; J. T. Walsh, Auburn, Placer County; L. L. Clough, Quincy, Plumas County; Senator Chas. B. Bills, Sacramento, Sacramento County; R. P. Lathrop, Hollister, San Benito County; Mayor James Rolph, Jr., San Francisco, San Francisco County; Burton E. Towne, Lodi-North, San Joaquin County; J. T. Langford, Acampo-North, San Joaquin County; Martin Ansbro, Tracy- South, San Joaquin County; Ed Powers, Manteca, San Joa- quin County; John S. MacBain, Menlo Park, San Mateo County; F. E. Mitchell, Campbell, Santa Clara County; J. A. Harvey, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County; A. H. Gron- woldt. Redding, Shasta County; W. L Reding, Downieville, Sierra County; Lewis M. Foulke, Jr., Gazelle, Siskiyou [lo] « Rock Creek Bridge in Mendocino County. Salinas River Bridge on State Highway near Soledad, Monterey County. if»V» Bridge across Sacramento River at Redding. Bridge across Sacramento River at Dunsmuir. The Three State Highway Bond Issues County; Thomas McCormack, Rio Vista, Solano County; D. H. LafFerty, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County; Charles S. Northcutt, Modesto, Stanislaus County; C. B. Harter, Yuba City, Sutter County; T. H. Ramsey, Red Bluff, Tehama County; C. H. Edwards, Weaverville, Trinity County; Charles Segerstrom, Sonora, Tuolumne County; Fred Shaffer, Woodland, Yolo County; C. W. Keel, Marysville, Yuba County. That the work of these men was well done is proven by the fact that while the first State Highway bond issue carried by only 1.3 to i and the second a little better by 3.96 to i, the third received a favorable vote in ratio of 7.03 to i. So it is that up to July i, 191 9, there has been voted by the people of California ^73,000,000 for State Highways. » ["] CHAPTER II THE BUREAU OF HIGHWAYS IN CONTEMPLATING this advanced sentiment for highway de- velopment in California it is interesting to go back to that time which marks the beginning of the agitation for a state- wide system of good roads and we find that an act "to create a Bureau of Highways and prescribe its duties and powers and to make an appropriation for its expenses" was passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor on March 27, 1895. This act contained the following provisions: "Section I. Within ten days after the passage of this Act the Gover- nor shall appoint three competent persons to compose a Bureau of High- ways who shall hold office for two years from the date of their qualifying. The persons so appointed shall be selected with particular reference to their qualifications for the duties devolving upon them; shall not engage in any other pursuit and shall devote their entire time to the service of the Bureau of Highways." Section II of the Act provided for a f 5000 bond for each commissioner to assure the proper performance of duty. Section III relates to duties as follows: "Among the duties of the Bureau of Highways shall be to gather from each county in the state statistics showing the total mileage of highways, their condition of improvement, the condition of the titles to the right-of- way, the method of obtaining title and of keeping the records thereof, the method of procedure in granting, closing and altering roads, and the manner of preserving the records of the same, the manner in which roads are constructed and maintained, the manner of payment for the con- struction and maintenance of roads, the manner in which the accounts pertaining to same are kept, the manner in which the money for highway purposes is raised, the amount expended in the past ten years for high- way purposes with the rate of taxation on one hundred dollars that is apportioned to the road fund. [12] The Bureau of Highways "It shall enquire into the topographical and geological features of each county, and more particularly with regard to the accessibility of water for road-sprinkling purposes, and stone quarries, deposits of gravel, bituminous rock, sand, adobe, or any other materials suitable for road- making purposes. It shall ascertain all laws now in force, in this state, appertaining to highways, and shall segregate all such as, in the judgment of the members of the bureau, are ineffective or obsolete from such as are effective. Inquiry shall be made into what laws and methods are in use in other states in regard to road matters and an abstract shall be made of such as are best adapted to the state of California. It shall prepare such cross sections of roads, plans for draining or watering of roads, and for culverts, small bridges and road appliances as may be deemed expedient. It shall prepare such blank forms as may be necessary to systematize all acts pertaining to the highways, and shall furthermore make any other inquiries in matters regarding highway improvement as will be of interest or benefit to the objects of said Bureau. "Inform.ation and advice shall be furnished by the Bureau of High- ways on matters connected with highway improvement and kindred subjects at any and all times, to all county officials or others connected with the highways, who may apply for the same, and any and all such information shall be furnished free of charge. It shall receive orders for road materials to be prepared at the state prisons, and shall forward the same to the governing body of the prisons, and in case the orders exceed the rate of supply shall make an equitable distribution of the product." The section given has been quoted at length and it will be seen at a glance, in the light of modern road-building develop- ments, that the Seven Labors of Hercules constituted an entirely trivial and inconsequential job when compared with the "duties" assigned to the Bureau of Highways. In addition to the duties commented upon, it was further provided in Section IV of the act that: "One or more mem- bers of the Bureau of Highways shall visit each county in the state at least once in each year and shall hold therein a public meeting at which there shall be a public discussion of all matters relating to highways or highway improve- ment." Other sections of the act provided for an appropriation for salaries and expenses and other minor details, a supple- mentary act being approved on March 28 th in the same year, which authorized the erection and operation of rock- crushing plants at the state prisons, for the preparation of [13] California Highways highway material for the benefit of the people of the state of California, and provided for the necessary advances and appropriations of money to carry out said work. The three men appointed by the Governor in compliance with the act establishing the Bureau of Highways were Messrs. R. C. Irvine, now living in Sacramento and a member of the Sacramento County Highway Commission, just finishing one hundred and twenty-five miles of con- crete highways; Marsden Manson of San Francisco, one of California's foremost engineers; and J. L. Maude, now dead, who formerly lived in Riverside. These three men were good roads enthusiasts all of them, and in commenting upon the work done by the Bureau of Highways, Mr. Irvine says that one of their first acts was to purchase a team of horses and to have a "buckboard" wagon of unusual strength built to order; the next being to embark upon the buckboard and sally forth for a first-hand survey of the state. In furtherance of this laudable purpose during 1895 ^"^ 1896 the Bureau of Highways, represented mostly by Messrs. Irvine and Maude, drove into every county in California without a single exception, and in discussing this trip Mr. Irvine, who is shown seated in the accompanying picture, taken in Riverside County in 1896, directed atten- tion to the dog, observing: "That's Maje, my Gordon setter who went with us, and he has a bone buried in every county in the state." This statement may be accepted as indisputable evidence that the Bureau of Highways with its canine coadjutor visited every county in the state and moreover that Maje, at least, expected to return. Be that as it may in relation to the bone-burying accom- plishments of Maje, it is a fact that in 1895 and 1896 the Bureau of Highways drove seven' thousand miles along the coast, through the valleys, over mountains, traversed the deserts and in a report submitted to the Governor under date of November 25, 1896, recommended a system of [h] -'^'^^ ^ll. 8 S «>i •S^ "^ ^ The Bureau of Highways state highways consisting of twenty-eight proposed routes with the following comment: "It will be observed by consulting any good map of the State, or the relief map of the State in the office of the Bureau, that the system of highways herein presented follows four fundamental principles: "First. — They are laid out along those lines which the physical features of the State forever fix as the easiest lines of communication. "Second. — ^The great belts of natural wealth which our State possesses are each traversed by one or more highways. "Third. — ^The system connects all the large centers of population within the limits of the state. "Fourth. — ^The system reaches the countyseat of every county, and taps the line of county roads so as to utilize them to the fullest extent." In submitting this report the Bureau of Highways pre- pared and filed therewith a map of the proposed highway system which in its main features corresponds almost ex- actly with the California highway system of today and discloses a breadth of vision that saw through nearly a quarter of a century and pictured what is now practically an ac- complished fact, in all fairness entitling Messrs. Irvine and Manson, living, and Maude, passed on, to that respectful appreciation so seldom granted to the men who pioneer the way; for they left behind them footprints which lead up from the mist of the early nineties to the present when on almost every side smooth vistas of roads serve to help humanity advance. Most of us who are devotees of good roads here in California have wondered, somewhat dimly perhaps, as to just what the impelling motive was that started our present highway development and here again we may turn to the Bureau of Highways which in 1896 published a bulletin written by Mr. Irvine. "The Effect of Roads upon Industrial Development" was the title of this old time essay, which it is submitted is in all respects worthy of the most rabid good roads enthusiast of 1919. "The influence of the bicycle," writes Mr. Irvine, "upon this agitation for improved highways cannot be overesti- mated. Millions of dollars have been invested in the [15] California Highways manufacture of these easy and graceful machines of locomo- tion and this agitation for better roads is due more directly to the efforts of the wheelmen than to any other one cause." "Any machine," he continues, with perfectly unconscious humor, "which enables a man to travel with pleasure, with- out discomfort and practically without expense, forty miles a day, is evidently one which has come to stay and the number of wheelmen will surely reach extraordinary pro- portions in the years to come." Which, in this day when most of us have no little difficulty in confining our progress over highways to a speed of less than forty miles an hour, may be regarded as proof, after all, that the world really does move. Farther on in his bulletin he declares: "In California, the conditions are so favorable to the construction of per- manent roads that, with proper legislation, it can reasonably be hoped that the Golden State will set an example to all others in the Union," disclosing even so far back that modesty which is such a distinguishing characteristic of Californians, who will always joyously admit that their state is extraordinarily blessed. "The absence of snow and frost," the bulletin continues, "obviates one of the great difficulties that must be contended with in the Eastern states and the presence throughout the state of excellent material for highway construction is a great aid to the advancement of the movement for good roads. The manifold reasons why wheelmen desire good roads are, of course, worthy of consideration but the fact must not be lost sight of that the farmer, the freighter, and the merchant need good roads to a greater extent than do the wheelmen, for over the highways must be hauled all that is produced, and the better the road, the more economically can products be transported." As a result, no doubt, of the activity of the Bureau of Highways the press throughout the state took up the agita- tion for better roads, the Los Angeles Times of January i8, 1896, saying editorially: "If the state were to build a few [.6] The Bureau of Highways hundred miles of first-class highways the benefits would be so great and so apparent that the movement for good roads would be greatly accelerated and the people would cheer- fully furnish the money necessary to continue the work until all the principal roads in the state were improved." While under date of February 4, 1896, the San Francisco Call declared: "There is something fascinating in the declaration made by a member of the State Bureau of High- ways that it is the intention of the bureau to see that a finely macadamized highway is built from one end of the state to the other." The San Francisco Chronicle of February 24, 1896, dis- closed the activity of bicycle riders again, saying: "There is no doubt that the general interests of the state would gain by the success of the plan which the wheelmen propose for the improvement of the country roads. The design is to have the laws so amended that certain leading highways will be built and maintained by state taxation, and the less important roads, which serve the purpose of feeders, be maintained by the districts in counties. It is obvious that good roads would help production and trade as well as facilitate the pleasure of bicycling." The Fresno Republican of November 24, 1896, declared itself characteristically: "Certainly it is time for a change in our road laws. In tracing the history of the Bureau of High- ways, the achievements of which appear creditable while cold documentary evidence testifies to the practicability of their plans, we find that the Act of 1895 "^^^ repealed by an act of the Legislature approved April i, 1897, the Bureau of Highways dismissed and a Department of Highways established; Messrs. Irvine and Maude being dropped (per- haps for reasons having to do with politics which in those good old days was played close to the table) and Messrs. Marsden Manson, J. R. Price, and W. L. Ashe named com- missioners. By this act it was provided that the three highway commissioners should hold office for two years at the end of which time their offices should automatically cease and all of the powers attaching to them should be vested in one man, who must be a civil engineer, to be ap- pointed by the Governor and to hold office for a period of four years. The highway commissioner appointed at the end of the two-year period designated by the statute was Mr. J. L. Maude, whose political fortunes at that time had dealt him the high hand, and as highway commissioner Mr. Maude served until 1903 when Mr. Nat Ellery was appointed, serv- ing until 1907 when the State Department of Engineering was created. This was an advisory body made up of the Governor, ex-officio member and chairman, the State En- gineer, the General Superintendent of State Hospitals, the [.8] i OMIORAWHaa I4A5 ! WJiSAS AVMH9IH 3iV leujdi **" " "^ " ~ • fW^'" '-^ J"* •—.-./I > 3aieR3vm ---^^JBUL]^[mm cS^" ''^.: c'^ > O03ia MAC JO «- ^ .KT •55. 