Volume 024-2 - April 1970 (5 pages)

mined by oxen moving seven w ten miles in a day and horses and mules traveling twenty miles each day. Even today the traveler is impressed with the difficulties encounted with the sharp turns and narrow roadways as well as the steepness of the grades. There is room to pass today but the drivers in those days relied on bells to signal the oncoming wagons to avoid a tie-up on the grades. 6 HORSE ORE WAGON TYPICAL OF TYPICAL OF WESTERN NEVADA COUNTY’S MINING DAYS FREIGHTING AS A BOOMING BUSINESS Freight hauling was a lucrative and hazardous business and provided work for many. The revenue ran upwards from $200 a ton to $2,000 per ton for delivery in the Comstock and rates were determined by the route and distance and in some cases the time element and class of the cargo. Tolls as revenue for toll road owners were generally set by an approved schedule with the County and for example let us quote: at the toll station at the south end of the Bridgeport Bridge: 6 Mule, Horse or Ox Wagon loaded $3.50 4 animal coaches $3.00 2 Horse buggies $2.00 Man and horse 50¢ — Cattle, mules loose or packed -25 and hogs and sheep .25. With the travel demands the operators of the various toll roads and particularly the Virginia Turnpike Toll Road became very prosperous and even _ provided sprinkled roads to keep the dust down during the summer months. 8. BRIDGEPORT THE GATEWAY TO THE SIERRAS Bridgeport shared with Placerville as the gateways to the Sierras and both were a constant scene of activity with the ‘‘Hangtown’’ route getting the faster moving and lighter freight anda majority of the passenger travel and Bridgeport getting the heavier and slower freight. Heading to the Henness Pass country were stages, wagons, pack-trains and riders and the population of Nevada County increased to 21,000 in 1852 and continued to accellerate with camps springing up along the trade route and at every new strike. Let us name a few, as many are today attractions for the traveler, the camper andthe curious: The names actually and in fact run from Alpha to Omega, French Corral, Birchville, Sebastopol, Sweetland, North San Juan, Camptonville, North Columbia, Freeman’s Crossing, North Bloomfield or Humbug, Relief Hill, Lake City, Columbia Hill, Moore’s Flat, Forest City, Eureka South, Pike City, Orelans Flat, Alleghany, Washington, Mountain House, Fiddle Creek, Goodyear’s Bar Downieville, Sierra City, Gold Lake, Meadow Lake, Summit City, Webber Station and others all west of the Henness Pass. The Henness Pass is believed to be named after a blacksmith by the name of Pat Haness. Pat Haness is little known but is believed to be one of the early group of men that searched out and found a better route from west to east across the mountains. DECLINE OF THE HENNESS PASS AND THE BRIDGEPORT BRIDGE: The great need for transportation across the mountains, the crisis caused by the Civil War and the need for gold and silver by both the North and South contributed to the planning and building of the Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento connecting with the railroad lines of the mid-west and eastern United States. Theodore Judah, an engineer, got the project underway and organized the ‘‘Big Four’’ and the effect it had on the freight teamsters is summed up by the author, W. S. Griswold, in his book, ‘fA Work of Giants,’’ quote, ‘‘They were interested primarily in luring the rich freight traffic between the Sacramento River and Nevada’s Comstock Lode away from a swarm ofteamsters.”’ The opening of the railroad in 1868 and it’s completion in 1869 put an end to the heavy hauling over the Henness Pass. The activity at the Bridgeport Bridge was less affected and new activity was created by the use of water for hydraulic mining. Activity continued to increase in the gold laden gravel of the mountains of the San Juan Ridge and other ancient river beds and the hydraulic monitor became the symbol of the age until 1884, when this form of mining was out-lawed. The need for water and the building of dams and ditches for mining, hydro-electric plants and later irrigation kept the economy humming. The Bridgeport Bridge has had a gradual decline and we learn that tolls at the bridge were reported as discontinued in 1880 by some and in 1901 by others, but we learn from an early citizen of Nevada City that he first crossed the bridge in 1913 and paid a toll of twenty five cents for he and his saddle hose. He made several crossings paying the toll at the toll station at the south end of the bridge. The records are not clear but the end was obvious and now the bridge and the toll road continue to serve the travelers of the county and now becomes an appropriate nothern entrance to mans newest development at Lake Wildwood changing the habitat of Pleasant Valley from one of activity to one of leisure and recreation. RESTORATION OF THE BRIDGE Plans have been discussed for many years for the restoration and preservatfon of the Bridgeport Covered Bridge and an alarmed citizenry of ‘‘Bridgers”’ or Covered Bridge ‘‘Buffs’’ and historically inclined conservationists saved the bridge in 1962 when it was reported that a new bridge would be built and the old bridge destroyed. But 1962 was the centenial of the famous old bridge and covered bridges were getting scarce and this was the longest span in the country. If this was not enough to ‘Save Old Bridgeport‘ nothing would, so it was honored with a centennial celebration and designated as California Historic Landmark No. 390. In the fall of 1968 the matter again came to the front with the Nevada County Historical Society leading the way, but it was not until November 4, 1969 that the ‘‘Committee for the Restoration of The Bridgeport Bridge’’ was formed to secure support and the necessary funds, estimated at $100,000, to preserve this historic treasure unchanged in purpose or design or usefulness since it was built in 1862. Contributions are invited in the name of the Bridgeport Covered Bridge and this gives everyone an opportunity to become a ‘‘Bridger’’.

mined by oxen moving seven w ten miles in a day and horses and mules traveling twenty miles each day. Even today the traveler is impressed with the difficulties encounted with the sharp turns and narrow roadways as well as the steepness of the grades. There is room to pass today but the drivers in those days relied on bells to signal the oncoming wagons to avoid a tie-up on the grades. 6 HORSE ORE WAGON TYPICAL OF TYPICAL OF WESTERN NEVADA COUNTY’S MINING DAYS FREIGHTING AS A BOOMING BUSINESS Freight hauling was a lucrative and hazardous business and provided work for many. The revenue ran upwards from $200 a ton to $2,000 per ton for delivery in the Comstock and rates were determined by the route and distance and in some cases the time element and class of the cargo. Tolls as revenue for toll road owners were generally set by an approved schedule with the County and for example let us quote: at the toll station at the south end of the Bridgeport Bridge: 6 Mule, Horse or Ox Wagon loaded $3.50 4 animal coaches $3.00 2 Horse buggies $2.00 Man and horse 50¢ — Cattle, mules loose or packed -25 and hogs and sheep .25. With the travel demands the operators of the various toll roads and particularly the Virginia Turnpike Toll Road became very prosperous and even _ provided sprinkled roads to keep the dust down during the summer months. 8. BRIDGEPORT THE GATEWAY TO THE SIERRAS Bridgeport shared with Placerville as the gateways to the Sierras and both were a constant scene of activity with the ‘‘Hangtown’’ route getting the faster moving and lighter freight anda majority of the passenger travel and Bridgeport getting the heavier and slower freight. Heading to the Henness Pass country were stages, wagons, pack-trains and riders and the population of Nevada County increased to 21,000 in 1852 and continued to accellerate with camps springing up along the trade route and at every new strike. Let us name a few, as many are today attractions for the traveler, the camper andthe curious: The names actually and in fact run from Alpha to Omega, French Corral, Birchville, Sebastopol, Sweetland, North San Juan, Camptonville, North Columbia, Freeman’s Crossing, North Bloomfield or Humbug, Relief Hill, Lake City, Columbia Hill, Moore’s Flat, Forest City, Eureka South, Pike City, Orelans Flat, Alleghany, Washington, Mountain House, Fiddle Creek, Goodyear’s Bar Downieville, Sierra City, Gold Lake, Meadow Lake, Summit City, Webber Station and others all west of the Henness Pass. The Henness Pass is believed to be named after a blacksmith by the name of Pat Haness. Pat Haness is little known but is believed to be one of the early group of men that searched out and found a better route from west to east across the mountains. DECLINE OF THE HENNESS PASS AND THE BRIDGEPORT BRIDGE: The great need for transportation across the mountains, the crisis caused by the Civil War and the need for gold and silver by both the North and South contributed to the planning and building

of the Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento connecting with the railroad lines of the mid-west and eastern United States. Theodore Judah, an engineer, got the project underway and organized the ‘‘Big Four’’ and the effect it had on the freight teamsters is summed up by the author, W. S. Griswold, in his book, ‘fA Work of Giants,’’ quote, ‘‘They were interested primarily in luring the rich freight traffic between the Sacramento River and Nevada’s Comstock Lode away from a swarm ofteamsters.”’ The opening of the railroad in 1868 and it’s completion in 1869 put an end to the heavy hauling over the Henness Pass. The activity at the Bridgeport Bridge was less affected and new activity was created by the use of water for hydraulic mining. Activity continued to increase in the gold laden gravel of the mountains of the San Juan Ridge and other ancient river beds and the hydraulic monitor became the symbol of the age until 1884, when this form of mining was out-lawed. The need for water and the building of dams and ditches for mining, hydro-electric plants and later irrigation kept the economy humming. The Bridgeport Bridge has had a gradual decline and we learn that tolls at the bridge were reported as discontinued in 1880 by some and in 1901 by others, but we learn from an early citizen of Nevada City that he first crossed the bridge in 1913 and paid a toll of twenty five cents for he and his saddle hose. He made several crossings paying the toll at the toll station at the south end of the bridge. The records are not clear but the end was obvious and now the bridge and the toll road continue to serve the travelers of the county and now becomes an appropriate nothern entrance to mans newest development at Lake Wildwood changing the habitat of Pleasant Valley from one of activity to one of leisure and recreation. RESTORATION OF THE BRIDGE Plans have been discussed for many years for the restoration and preservatfon of the Bridgeport Covered Bridge and an alarmed citizenry of ‘‘Bridgers”’ or Covered Bridge ‘‘Buffs’’ and historically inclined conservationists saved the bridge in 1962 when it was reported that a new bridge would be built and the old bridge destroyed. But 1962 was the centenial of the famous old bridge and covered bridges were getting scarce and this was the longest span in the country. If this was not enough to ‘Save Old Bridgeport‘ nothing would, so it was honored with a centennial celebration and designated as California Historic Landmark No. 390. In the fall of 1968 the matter again came to the front with the Nevada County Historical Society leading the way, but it was not until November 4, 1969 that the ‘‘Committee for the Restoration of The Bridgeport Bridge’’ was formed to secure support and the necessary funds, estimated at $100,000, to preserve this historic treasure unchanged in purpose or design or usefulness since it was built in 1862. Contributions are invited in the name of the Bridgeport Covered Bridge and this gives everyone an opportunity to become a ‘‘Bridger’’.